In a forum published by the JDD this Sunday, January 16, 2022, nearly 600 scientists, associations, actors in the forest-wood sector challenge the government concerning the exploitation of wood at the National Forest and Wood Meetings
Following the National Forest and Wood Meetings, which took place in 2021, the government of Jean Castex will soon make its decisions on the orientation of French forestry policy. On this occasion, nearly 600 scientists, associations and players in the forest-wood sector call on the government to support a pragmatic vision of the sector in a column published in the “JDD”.
Among these signatories, certain personalities from New Aquitaine like Alexis Ducousso, engineer at Cestas.
A slowdown in the volume of wood
The forum emphasizes that the volume of wood in the forest continues to decline in France. In support, one of the latest statistics from the National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information shows that the increase in the volume of wood in the forest is slowing down under the effect of a triple pressure: decline in growth, increase in harvesting of wood, increased mortality of certain tree species.
The 600 signatories point out that this crisis is not temporary, it constitutes a new deal that destabilizes and questions forest management practices. In a context of growing uncertainty, on what basis should a new forest policy be founded?
Environmentally friendly practices
During the National Conference on Forestry and Wood, the debates around practices making it possible to reconcile forest exploitation and biodiversity were put on the table, as mentioned in the forum: “Maintaining the forest atmosphere, mixture of species, presence very large timber in stands and, more generally, diversity of diameters, wefts of dead wood, standing and on the ground. »
Scientists say that the challenge today is to act by placing these practices at the heart of a new forest policy “by better conditioning public aid, by modernizing forest taxation or by strengthening the biodiversity and climate section of the documents management, in both public and private forests”.