The existence of Forestry Studies University Centres in Pontevedra had been an historical claim for almost 60 years. In 1957 it was officially requested to have university studies in forestry in Pontevedra:
“…If another schools in addition to the one in Madrid would be created, it would be logical for it to be in Pontevedra…”
In 1959 the Regional Government of Pontevedra submitted to the Directorate General of Technical Education of the Ministry of Education the request to complement Biological Mission and the Forest Research Centre of Lourizán with professional university studies:
“The functioning of these professional centres -said the agreement- will be of paramount importance for the economic and cultural interests of this province. This so because here is one of the biggest forestry wealth”
With the autonomous transferences, this historical demand comes back in the middle of the 80s, when many voices inside the forestry field and the university Galician community made the case for creating the university forestry degrees and centres. This demand ends up in the inclusion on the strategic actions in the Galician Forestry Plan, drafted between 1989 and 1992 and passed on July 17, 1992, by the Galician Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Forests, of the establishment of a Forestry University Centre. In this framework the University School of Technical Forestry Engineering of Pontevedra, depending on the University of Vigo, was created in the year 1991-1992.
Based on the historical development of the degree and on the Galician experience in the forestry policies, on 1992 in Pontevedra the Technical Forestry Engineering degree was launched, with the specialities in Forestry Industry within the University of Vigo.
Since then, suffering several changes in the Study Plan, the School of Forestry Engineering of Pontevedra (SFE) is the only centre exclusively on forestry for university education in Galicia. Currently it is being taught as the Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry Engineering with the speciality “Forest Holdings” as “Forestry Industry”, which enables to work as a Technical Forestry Engineer.
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