During past month of June, the National Center for Forest Property (Centre national de la propriété forestière – CNPF – held three informative meetings with forest owners and companies and administrations of the non regulated EU ETS sector, to present LIFE FOREST CO2 project, as well as to raise awareness about the best carbon sequestration techniques for companies and local authorities to offset their carbon footprint. The objective is to disseminate the works that can be financed locally in France under carbon footprint offsetting in relation to a future national certification of carbon, through cases of success of forestry focused on carbon sequestration. The ultimate goal ; encourage forest owners to develop CO2 absorption projects locally.

CNPF proposes visits to forest plots to Aquitaine companies and public administration

The first session took place on June 26th, in Sauveterre-de-Guyenne (Gironde, Nouvelle Aquitaine), where the CNPF presented to the companies and public administrations three parcels:

  • A plot of undergrowth chestnut with great mortality. The solution is to make a repopulation with a species more suitable to the site index curve (probably with oak);
  • A plot of undergrowth oak forest with an interesting potentiality. Lightening should be done to improve carbon sequestration instead of making scorched logs every 20/30 years;
  • A plot of an old undergrowth oak forest, in which a conversion was carried out on a high mountain (photo attached to continuation). This silvicultural treatment, besides a more important sequestration of carbon, allows a better valuation of the wood by due to an increase of the production of quality wood.

Old undergrowth oak forest turned into a forest of tall trees. The CNPF encourages forest owners to do this type of silvicultural treatment to sequester more carbon

On Thursday, June 29th, the event was held in Saint-Jory (Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie), where several examples of repopulations were shown in an alluvial forest (on the banks of the Garonne River): sycamore, walnut, cedar, robinia and pine. Companies and public administrations were able to verify that all species choices were unsuccessful. In this particular case the owner wants to repopulate some areas but it is difficult due to the expensive costs. These plots have great potential for absorption projects, to the attention of entities interested in offsetting their carbon footprint.

Population of sycamore felled, 20 years

Population of cedar, 20 years

Population of robinia of 6 years with a fast growth

This series of visits ended on July 6th in Saint-Bauzille-de-Montmel (Hérault, Occitanie). During this summer, fires have destroyed thousands of hectares of Mediterranean forests. To the environs of Montpellier, Pinus halepensis is an omnipresent species, with a potential of propagation of fires. The CNPF presented why preventive forestry can be positioned as a tool for fighting fires as forests are managed with clearances that decrease fuel biomass. In the forest mass visited, the occurrence of such fires is significant with 3 fires in 26 years (1989, 2003 and 2015)! Companies and public administrations in the Montpellier region could be involved in this major problem by offsetting the carbon footprint by participating in projects to reduce fire risk.

P. halepensis mass in the immediate proximity of a road with a strong clear and a weeding

P. halepensis mass cleared on both sides of a path

Completely flared pine mass

CNPF will organize other meetings during Autumn through Limoges, Pau and Lyon. For more information, contact Lucie Rupil (l.rupil@crpfaquitaine.fr), Raphaël Bec (raphael.bec@cnpf.fr) or Olivier Gleizes (olivier.gleizes@cnpf.fr).