diff --git a/app/helpers/cms_helper.rb b/app/helpers/cms_helper.rb
index e7695bf0c..5de2606a2 100644
--- a/app/helpers/cms_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/cms_helper.rb
@@ -88,6 +88,41 @@ def get_filtered_pages pages
     pages
   end
 
+  def load_categories
+    return [] unless @cms_page
+    layouts_categories = Comfy::Cms::LayoutsCategory.where(layout_id: @cms_page.layout_id)
+
+    # TODO This is a workaround to load the custom categories also based on child pages
+    # in case the categories for the given page are empty.
+    # This seems to be necessary now because the layout used for the main page
+    # can be different from the layout used in the child pages
+    if layouts_categories.blank?
+      children_layouts = @cms_page.children.map(&:layout_id)
+      layouts_categories = Comfy::Cms::LayoutsCategory.where(layout_id: children_layouts)
+    end
+
+    categories_yml = I18n.t('search')[:custom_categories]
+    layouts_categories.map do |lc|
+      name = categories_yml[lc.layout_category.label.to_sym][:name]
+      page_categories = lc.layout_category.page_categories
+      localised_pcs = categories_yml[name.to_sym][:items]
+
+      items = page_categories.map do |pc|
+        {
+          id: pc.id,
+          name: localised_pcs[pc.label.to_sym]
+        }
+      end
+
+      # frontend should return the list of selected categories as follows:
+      # 'group_name' => [category_ids] ; e.g. 'topics' => [1,2,3]
+      {
+        name: name,
+        items: items
+      }
+    end
+  end
+
   def cta_api
     @cta_api ||= CallToAction.find_by_css_class('api')
   end
diff --git a/app/models/comfy/cms/layout_category.rb b/app/models/comfy/cms/layout_category.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f8bdd2b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/comfy/cms/layout_category.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+class Comfy::Cms::LayoutCategory < ApplicationRecord
+  self.table_name = 'comfy_cms_layout_categories'
+
+  has_many :page_categories
+  has_many :layouts_categories
+  has_many :layouts, through: :layouts_categories
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/comfy/cms/layouts_category.rb b/app/models/comfy/cms/layouts_category.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77dc7dfe1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/comfy/cms/layouts_category.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class Comfy::Cms::LayoutsCategory < ApplicationRecord
+  self.table_name = 'comfy_cms_layouts_categories'
+  
+  belongs_to :layout
+  belongs_to :layout_category
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/comfy/cms/page_category.rb b/app/models/comfy/cms/page_category.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6313f88ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/comfy/cms/page_category.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+class Comfy::Cms::PageCategory < ApplicationRecord
+  self.table_name = 'comfy_cms_page_categories'
+
+  belongs_to :layout_category
+  has_many :pages_categories
+  has_many :pages, through: :pages_categories
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/comfy/cms/pages_category.rb b/app/models/comfy/cms/pages_category.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..310446755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/comfy/cms/pages_category.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class Comfy::Cms::PagesCategory < ApplicationRecord
+  self.table_name = 'comfy_cms_pages_categories'
+
+  belongs_to :page
+  belongs_to :page_category
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/comfy/cms/searchable_page.rb b/app/models/comfy/cms/searchable_page.rb
index 23a8efa09..6e506893d 100644
--- a/app/models/comfy/cms/searchable_page.rb
+++ b/app/models/comfy/cms/searchable_page.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ def as_indexed_json
           include: { fragments_for_index: { only: [:id, :content] } }
         },
         categories: { only: [:id, :label] },
+        topics: { only: [:id, :label] },
+        page_types: { only: [:id, :label] },
         ancestors: { only: [:id, :label] }
       }
     )
diff --git a/app/views/resources/index.html.erb b/app/views/resources/index.html.erb
index 02b4a47d3..45027e7f1 100644
--- a/app/views/resources/index.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/resources/index.html.erb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 <section class="container">
   <div>
     <h2>filters</h2>
+    <!-- TODO This is just an example to show the custom categories if present -->
+    <%= load_categories %>
   </div>
 
   <div>
diff --git a/config/initializers/comfortable_mexican_sofa.rb b/config/initializers/comfortable_mexican_sofa.rb
index e4739abeb..7c33b3bb7 100644
--- a/config/initializers/comfortable_mexican_sofa.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/comfortable_mexican_sofa.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 require 'cms_tags/date_not_null'
 require 'cms_tags/text_custom'
+require 'cms_tags/categories'
 # encoding: utf-8
 
 ComfortableMexicanSofa.configure do |config|
diff --git a/config/initializers/comfy_patching.rb b/config/initializers/comfy_patching.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94c21f394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/comfy_patching.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+Rails.configuration.to_prepare do
+  Comfy::Cms::Page.class_eval do
+    has_many :pages_categories, foreign_key: 'page_id'
+    has_many :page_categories, through: :pages_categories, foreign_key: 'page_id'
+
+    has_many :topics, -> { joins(:layout_category).where("comfy_cms_layout_categories.label = 'topics'") },
+      through: :pages_categories, class_name: 'Comfy::Cms::PageCategory', source: :page_category
+
+    has_many :page_types, -> { joins(:layout_category).where("comfy_cms_layout_categories.label = 'types'") },
+      through: :pages_categories, class_name: 'Comfy::Cms::PageCategory', source: :page_category
+
+    accepts_nested_attributes_for :pages_categories
+  end
+
+  Comfy::Cms::Layout.class_eval do
+    has_many :layouts_categories, foreign_key: 'layout_id'
+    has_many :layout_categories, through: :layouts_categories, foreign_key: 'layout_id'
+
+    accepts_nested_attributes_for :layouts_categories
+
+    after_save :assign_layout_categories
+
+    def assign_layout_categories
+      _categories = self.content_tokens.select do |t|
+        unless t.is_a?(Hash)
+          false
+        else
+          t[:tag_class] == 'categories'
+        end
+      end
+
+      delete_orphan_categories && return if _categories.blank?
+
+      _categories.each do |cat|
+        tag_name = cat[:tag_params].split(',').first
+        _layout_category = Comfy::Cms::LayoutCategory.find_by(label: tag_name)
+        Comfy::Cms::LayoutsCategory.find_or_create_by(
+          layout_id: self.id,
+          layout_category_id: _layout_category.id
+        )
+      end
+    end
+
+    def delete_orphan_categories
+      layouts_categories = Comfy::Cms::LayoutsCategory.where(layout_id: self.id)
+
+      self.pages.each do |page|
+        layouts_categories.each do |lc|
+          pcs_ids = page.page_categories.where(layout_category_id: lc.id).map(&:id)
+          Comfy::Cms::PagesCategory.where(
+            page_id: page.id,
+            page_category_id: pcs_ids
+          ).destroy_all
+        end
+      end
+
+      layout_categories.destroy_all
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/locales/search/en.yml b/config/locales/search/en.yml
index 608d8c1ee..52d5b44be 100644
--- a/config/locales/search/en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/search/en.yml
@@ -40,4 +40,18 @@ en:
       - all
       - news-and-stories
       - resources
-      - areas
\ No newline at end of file
+      - areas
+    custom_categories:
+      topics:
+        name: 'topics'
+        items:
+          wdpa: WDPA
+          oecm: OECM
+          pame: PAME
+      types:
+        name: 'types'
+        items:
+          publications: 'Publications'
+          statistics: 'Statistics'
+          technical: 'Technical'
+          training: 'Training'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/search.yml b/config/search.yml
index 711dae922..ce0dfea44 100644
--- a/config/search.yml
+++ b/config/search.yml
@@ -116,6 +116,16 @@ filters:
       path: 'categories'
       field: 'categories.id'
       required: true
+    topic:
+      type: 'nested'
+      path: 'topics'
+      field: 'topics.id'
+      required: true
+    page_type:
+      type: 'nested'
+      path: 'page_types'
+      field: 'page_types.id'
+      required: true
     ancestor:
       type: 'nested'
       path: 'ancestors'
diff --git a/db b/db
index 5c67afab7..7f970b02d 160000
--- a/db
+++ b/db
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 5c67afab71ecbc42bec757a208c41efeaa364261
+Subproject commit 7f970b02d2eb785833ad9f9be2f31b7925f851ad
diff --git a/lib/cms_tags/categories.rb b/lib/cms_tags/categories.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9af437eaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/cms_tags/categories.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+class Categories < ComfortableMexicanSofa::Content::Tag::Fragment
+  def initialize(context:, params: [], source: nil)
+    super
+    @group_name = params.first
+    @categories = Comfy::Cms::LayoutCategory.find_by(label: @group_name).page_categories
+  end
+  
+  def form_field(object_name, view, index)
+    input = view.collection_check_boxes(:page, :page_category_ids, @categories, :id, :label) do |b|
+      view.content_tag(:div, class: "form-check form-check-inline") do
+        view.concat b.check_box(class: "form-check-input") 
+        view.concat b.label(class: "form-check-label")
+      end
+    end
+
+    yield input
+  end
+end
+
+ComfortableMexicanSofa::Content::Renderer.register_tag(
+    :categories, Categories
+)
+  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/modules/search/matcher.rb b/lib/modules/search/matcher.rb
index c25d07442..8d93ac56a 100644
--- a/lib/modules/search/matcher.rb
+++ b/lib/modules/search/matcher.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ class Search::Matcher
         )
       },
       { type: 'nested', path: 'categories', fields: ['categories.label'] },
+      { type: 'nested', path: 'topics', fields: ['topics.label'] },
       { type: 'nested', path: 'ancestors', fields: ['ancestors.label'] }
     ]
   }
diff --git a/lib/modules/search/templates/mappings.json b/lib/modules/search/templates/mappings.json
index 582c11344..7606fad9b 100644
--- a/lib/modules/search/templates/mappings.json
+++ b/lib/modules/search/templates/mappings.json
@@ -232,6 +232,28 @@
           }
         }
       },
+      "topics": {
+        "type": "nested",
+        "properties": {
+          "id": {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          "label": {
+            "type": "keyword"
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "page_types": {
+        "type": "nested",
+        "properties": {
+          "id": {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          "label": {
+            "type": "keyword"
+          }
+        }
+      },
       "fragments_for_index": {
         "type": "nested",
         "properties": {
diff --git a/lib/tasks/cms_categories.rake b/lib/tasks/cms_categories.rake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b0e7f469
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tasks/cms_categories.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+namespace :cms_categories do
+  desc 'Seed database tables with custom categories for the CMS'
+  task import: :environment do
+    groups = I18n.t('search')[:custom_categories]
+
+    groups.each do |group_name, categories|
+      layout_category = Comfy::Cms::LayoutCategory.find_or_create_by(label: group_name.to_s)
+      categories_names = categories[:items].keys
+
+      categories_names.each do |cat_name|
+        Comfy::Cms::PageCategory.find_or_create_by(layout_category_id: layout_category.id, label: cat_name)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file