Asociación Semillistas wins the Land and Soil Management Award 2026
Brussels, April 14th – Óliver Ruiz Garrido joined us in Brussels to accept on behalf of his organization Asociación Semillistas the prestigious Land and Soil Management Award for the 2026 edition. The award was presented on stage during the Annual Conference of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, by Thierry de l’Escaille, member of the jury, and Prof. Martin Gerzabek, former Rector of BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna.
Statement from Asociación Semillistas
“From the perspective of Asociación Semillistas, the future of European forest soils shows worrying signs that call for a thorough reassessment of current practices: The trend toward homogeneous forest stands and the limited integration of natural processes restrict the soil’s ability to regenerate and adapt to pressures such as climate change or wildfires.
In this context, Semillistas emphasizes the need to strengthen approaches based on ecological regeneration, species diversification, and the active involvement of local communities, as realistic pathways to improve the health of forest soils and ensure their ecological and social function in Europe’s future.
This type of initiative is key to the future of agriculture and the European associative fabric. Humanity’s most powerful tool, it’s collective intelligence, can devise innovative solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. In fact, it already does, so constantly, and many of these solutions would never come to light without initiatives like this one.
For us, we hope this will be a turning point in our journey, the moment of maturity from which we can begin to expand our approach to places we once could only dream of reaching, and perhaps even discover new ways to apply it in collaboration with other organizations.“
