It’s under way! The first regional project contests for aid toward improving forest stands have been launched. The government will be providing €4 million funding for this operation in 2018.
The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food announced this new initiative at the end of June as part of its overall 2018-2022 investment plan. The issue is to enable forest owners to renew stands whose economic and environmental value is poor.
In a context where tensions are high, choking the supply of French wood to sawmills, these aids target the medium and long term development of forestry resources that mesh better with the timber conversion sector’s quality and quantity requirements.
In addition to economic objectives, the environmental side is also addressed in the form of two requirements: to prepare forests for the consequences of climate change and sanitary risks, and to maximize carbon sequestration by trees.
For the deployment of this initiative, the government has asked the regions to adapt the aid to local contexts and facilitate cooperation between various potential backers.
Assistance levels can reach 40% for projects by collectives or consortia (“GIEFF”) or by forest communities. The actions receiving aid will cover several areas: preparatory work for artificial regeneration (management of competing vegetation, tillage, dealing with the remains of previous exploitation, etc.), purchase and planting of seedlings in “objective” species, maintenance of artificial regeneration, protection against animal damage, and project management.
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