After the extraordinary fires of this summer, the Head of State wants to densify wooded areas in France. This was announced by Emmanuel Macron, Friday, October 28, with in particular the planting of a billion trees in France. But be careful how these trees will be planted, some researchers are already warning!
In metropolitan France, the forest represents 17.1 million hectares, or 31% of the territory and 2.9 million hectares more since 1985, according to figures from the National Institute for Geographic and Forest Information (IGN ). A forest that has suffered from summer fires and more generally from the effects of warming temperatures.
More than 300 firefighters, mayors, helicopter pilots, volunteers and civil society actors were received at the Élysée on Friday. Emmanuel Macron had announced this meeting in August, when he went to Gironde, theater of very intense forest fires. Emmanuel Macron expressed his ambition: “ Our goal is to be able to replant a billion trees in ten years, or 10% of our forests… it’s doable and even that’s what we have to do! »
► Read also : overtaken by the climate issue, the executive seeks to green the tone
A formidable regional development project according to the Head of State. But be careful, according to Jonathan Lenoir, CNRS researcher and specialist in forest ecology, planting a lot of trees without careful consultation beforehand can sometimes be counterproductive. He is at the microphone Pierre Olivier, from the French department. ” It is not necessarily by planting trees everywhere that we will solve the problem. There are ecosystems that are much more interesting in terms of carbon storage than the forest, so you really have to think about how you plant these trees, where you plant them, and then what do you plant since a species chosen today is not necessarily adapted to the climate fifty years from now...”
afforestation of wetlands (induces) a negative effect on carbon storage since it is in peat and wetlands that this storage takes place and over the longer term
Jonathan Lenoir (CNRS): afforestation of wetlands, a bad idea
Planting for planting: a false good idea
Planting for planting does not make a forest policy, added forest specialists from the National Forestry Office – which has lost more than 30% of its staff in twenty years – and from the NGO canopy. ” Planting for planting is a business leitmotif, not a forest management plan “, he added, considering that the massive plantations financed by the recovery plan – a plan of ” restocking » of the forests of « 50 million trees “on 2020-22 for a budget of 200 million euros – had been made” in the rain », with choices of species « questionable “.
In addition to the planting of a billion trees, Emmanuel Macron also announced 150 million euros for fire rescue services and the passage of the French fleet of canadair from 12 to 16 by 2027. During the summer 2022, 72,000 hectares have been burned, “ six times more than the average of the last ten years “, underlined Emmanuel Macron.
► Read also : in France, after the violent forest fires, twenty-six suspects arrested
(and with agencies)