Putting an end to a fantasized threat: “The exploitation of forest resources is an asset for our forests, not the other way around”

In recent months, several attacks against forestry workers have been reported. These incidents show how the preservation of French forest resources is regularly opposed to its exploitation, as if one was only to the detriment of the other. However, the rational exploitation of our forests seems to be the key to better protecting them from the real threat: global warming.

France is a large forest country with nearly 17,3 million hectares in mainland France, or almost 31% of mainland territory(1). At a time when wood is increasingly required to build a more sustainable world, this French forest wealth appears to be an asset to the ecological transition. However, if the French appetite for wood is only growing, few want to hear about production forests.

In 2023, wood markets (construction - energy - industry) are still perceived as a threat to the forest. 53% of French people surveyed think that French forests are overexploited. 52% consider that wood harvesting in France destroys the forest in the region. And 44% believe that the first sustainable forest management action in France would be to completely stop cutting trees(2).

The French forest threatened?

Contrary to popular belief, the French forest is doing well. In less than two centuries, its surface area has almost doubled, going from 8,9 million hectares in 1840 to 17,3 million hectares in 2022(3). Despite these figures, wood production is still considered a threat in the collective imagination. The confusion between “timber production” and “clearcutting” persists, and any logging is often seen as synonymous with deforestation.

For Sarah Laroussi, general director of the CNDB: “Disinformation is carried by people paradoxically often committed to the environment but not experts or seasoned about the forest who imagine themselves saving the forest from a fantasized human threat. »

However, clear felling, which consists of felling all the trees present on a forest plot, only represents 0,3% of the forest area in mainland France. Today, the forester does not take more than what the forest produces since only 58,5% of the natural growth of forests is taken each year.

Using forest wood means making a gesture “for” the planet

French forests are nevertheless in danger. High-speed climatic changes are causing significant structural changes in French forests. Fires, droughts, storms, diseases… In all territories the forest is suffering. But if forests are the first victims of global warming, they are also one of the best chances to stop it.

The issue of using wood is a real ecological issue. The forest, the second largest carbon sink in the world behind the oceans, allows sequestration, that is to say the absorption of carbon through photosynthesis. Wood, even transformed, also fulfills a storage role, i.e. the capacity to retain this carbon. Wood finally allows substitution. As a natural and renewable resource, wood can, for certain uses, be used in place of more energy-intensive or fossil-based materials or energy sources such as plastic, aluminum or oil.

Building the future

To achieve the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050, wood is an essential asset, particularly in the construction sector which represents 23% of French greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to its role in carbon sequestration, wood has exceptional qualities to make the sector more sustainable. Very good insulator, wood provides excellent thermal and sound comfort for buildings that consume less energy. 5 times lighter than a masonry structure, wood allows the use of lighter foundations, thus reducing the quantity of concrete required. A low density which also makes it the ideal material for raising sites.

Finally, wood helps reduce nuisance on construction sites. Timber buildings are most often prefabricated off-site, with entire walls, or even complete rooms, custom designed in specialist facilities. Much faster than traditional masonry work, wood construction or renovation thus involves a significant reduction in noise pollution, traffic and waste production generated by a traditional construction site.

For Sarah Laroussi, general director of the CNDB: “Climate change, the real estate crisis, the societal and environmental changes we are currently experiencing are shaking up our vision of the city and housing. Resilient, wood adapts very easily to changes in the world. We still have to give him a chance! »

For this, the intervention of women and men foresters is essential. On the ground, the cooperatives of the UCFF (Union de la Coopérative Forestière Française) support and advise private forest owners in their maintenance and wood production work. The intense weather conditions that the French forest faces require specific measures adapted from one region to another. Without these local actions, the quantity and quality of French wood would be in danger. So we owe them a lot.

(1) Ministry of Agriculture. available here

(2) OpinionWay survey for UCFF, The French and the forests (October 2023). Available here.

(3) National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information, Forest inventory (2022). available here.