Background Communal forests in Extremadura consist mainly of meadow lands covering 1 012 600 hectares. These communal forests constitute one of the most exceptional landscapes in the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula, with great historical, ecological and cultural value. They are one of the few agrosilvopastoral systems in Europe with a communal exploitation of natural resources by local forest users. However, the forests are suffering from a progressive deterioration, mainly due to abandonment and a decline in common usage. It is important to identify and understand the characteristics of communal forests in order to determine the problems that threaten their persistence and common use. Objectives The LIFE Comforest project aims to analyse and monitor the main features and the environmental status of communal forests in Extremadura, in order to improve understanding of their current state and to facilitate their future conservation. The project expects to establish guidelines that will make the traditional and communal exploitation of forests by local users compatible with their long-term conservation. The specific objectives of the project are to: Collect and analyse information about the legal status, historical origin, and communal exploitation systems of each of the communal forests in Extremadura; Conduct forest inventories using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology – an innovative methodology in Extremadura – on sample plots; Monitor, via surveys, the wildlife, botany and forest health conditions - pests and diseases, global warming effects on the forest decay of oak stands, and the lack of natural regeneration; Create a public register of communal forests to give more legal security to common land exploitation rights and ensure the public-domain nature of these forests; Establish guidelines for the conservation and regeneration of each type of communal forest – linking traditional and communal forest exploitation by local forest users and the long-term conservation of forest resources. Expected results: A public register of communal forests; Silviculture reports - one for each communal forest - that analyse and summarise the results of the inventories and monitoring, including forest features, environmental status and land use; Sustainable forest management guidelines; Recovery of the public domain nature of forests where local forest users previously had communal land use rights; Conservation and regeneration of communal forests.