FORESTMED will consider “Mediterranean cryptic refugia” as those sites located in the mountains, which are able of harboring cold-adapted forest systems during warm periods, such as the current interglacial. Although this concept of cryptic refugia is not new, it has never been used before for Mediterranean alpine systems, which are indeed undergoing a constant habitat loss. Specifically, this project studies three montane conifers from the Western Mediterranean: Abies pinsapo Boiss., Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carriere and Pinus nigra Arnold. From Forestmed we intend to assess the role that these refugial areas have played on the conservation of genetic resources during the last 21,000 years and their meaning in the face of current warming, from a multidisciplinary approach that merges the fossil record (pollen and charcoal), vegetation modeling and genetic studies, in order to assess the resilience/vulnerability of Mediterranean mountain conifers as well as the drivers concerning their population dynamics.