Inspirational ideas: Restoration of degraded forest areas

This inspirational idea is also available in a Slovak version. 

Translation courtesy of the National Rural Network Slovakia. Read more EIP-AGRI inspirational ideas in Slovak on the NRN website. 

Demonstrating the multiple benefits of forest regeneration

Forests have been greatly degraded by human activity and by climate change, but by giving them a new lease of life, their countless benefits can be restored. Racines de France is working to protect and promote the value of forests, supporting sustainable and inclusive agriculture and forestry. Their motto is ‘Trees are essential to life on earth’. They currently have a pilot project in the Forêt de Brassac in the south of France to test and develop methods for forest regeneration.

The Forêt de Brassac is an 80-hectare formerly enclosed forest area in the Occitanie region. Before the project started, many of the hardwood trees were decaying because the area was difficult to access for maintenance purposes. Heavy rainfall and reduced biodiversity due to climate change had also had an impact.

Racines de France is a French organisation working on projects world-wide related to forest regeneration. With a team of forestry experts, they started a project in the Forêt de Brassac, funded by the Region, to restore it to its original glory and to revive and create new forestry activities.

Yann Fortunato, Racines de France, is leading the project – he is a forester himself. “This restoration project is all about diversity” Yann says, “We wanted to create a forest which contains many different tree species and which could offer multiple and varied benefits. These include production of wood for construction, improvement of soil quality to mitigate damage caused by rain, carbon capture and increasing biodiversity. Another objective was also to maintain the natural beauty of the area.” Through the pilot project they will test and demonstrate innovative management practices, “I hope this forest can become an experimental laboratory for years to come” says Yann.

The restoration of the Forêt de Brassac started in 2016 by creating new roads to enable forestry machinery to access the area. Next, many of the decaying trees were harvested and new ones were planted. Yann explains “We chose trees which are adapted to the local climate and which will be able to withstand further climate change: cedar, larch, Douglas fir, acacia, lime, ash and beech.” However, in zones where the original trees were not too damaged, they decided to protect them and maintain them as natural zones of biodiversity.

An apiary has been created to develop the population of bees in the forest to support pollination of the forest and farming ecosystems as well as to produce honey. Agreements have been made with the local hunting association to control the presence of deer. These wild animals feed on young plants and so it is important to ensure young trees have the opportunity to grow.

The old forest track has now been turned into a signposted walking route and an educational project with local schools is also underway. Yann explains “To ensure long-term change, it is important to raise awareness about the benefits of forests and demonstrate the values of the Forêt de Brassac to people living in the area.”

After 6 years of this pilot project, Racines de France has already seen a difference. The trees are well-established which demonstrates their capacity to capture carbon, local inhabitants enjoy using the footpaths as hiking routes. They are now working on scientific comparisons on carbon storage and biodiversity and they are also disseminating the work done so far on local, national and European level.

Project information

• www.racinesdefrance.com
• Contact: Yann Fortunato yann.fortunato@racinesdefrance.com
• Further information about Racines de France: Racines de France is a “Société à Mission”, combining technology, expertise and know-how. It contributes to inclusive and sustainable global agriculture and forestry. By improving our knowledge of the living world and putting trees at the centre of their work, Racines de France fights global warming, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity to promote food, health and creation of shared values related to forests.