Question 9738 — woods and forests

Summary

The threat to primary forests on a global scale is very real, particularly in the inter-tropical region where around 50% of primary forests have disappeared since the mid-20th century. A primary forest is a large, continuous wooded area established since the end of the last glaciation by spontaneous colonization of tree species and having not undergone any logging, grazing or hunting (according to Cateau and al. 2014). There is therefore no longer any primary forest in mainland France since, even if so-called “sub-natural” forests still exist, communities of large herbivores (European bison, wild horses, elk, etc.) and the large associated predators disappeared between the 1st century AD and the end of the Middle Ages. These animal communities are an integral part of the primary forest ecosystem. The situation in Europe is similar. For example, the forest of Muddus National Park in Sweden only partially meets the definition of a primary forest since this ecosystem has been used for 8,000 years by the Sami for trapping purposes as well as for the extensive breeding of domesticated reindeer, even if large fauna are still present there (moose, wolverines, bears, etc.). It is therefore a sub-natural forest, just like the Bialowiesa forest in Poland. or Slatioara in Romania, although wrongly considered as primary forests. There are at least 7,500 ha of sub-natural forests in mainland France identified by a study by Réserves Naturelles de France. All impacted by Man at one point in their history, they have nevertheless been free from any logging for at least 50 years. These forests are home to mature stands of old trees and wood. death in significant quantities, the maintenance of which ensures the survival of 25% of forest biodiversity (insects, birds, mammals, fungi, lichens, etc. (Stokland et al. 2012). The entirety of these 7,500 ha is classified as a nature reserve but only 1,200 ha benefit from strict protection. The State must therefore ensure coherence between public policies for removing biomass and preserving the forest biodiversity in national nature reserves or on Natura 2000 classified sites. Overseas, Guyana has the largest primary forest in France, but also in Europe, covering approximately 95% of Guyanese territory, or nearly 80,000 km2. The creation of the Amazonian Park in 2007, the protected heart of which represents more than 20,000 km2, and before it the Nouragues National Reserves (100,000 ha) and La Trinité (76,000 ha) made it possible to give strong protection status to more than a quarter of Guyanese forests. National parks and national reserves also exist in Reunion and Guadeloupe, which gives the Overseas Territories an exceptional network of protected areas where logging is either prohibited or heavily regulated. Furthermore, the integral biological reserves (RBI) of forests managed by the National Forestry Office represent 22,490 ha and benefit from strict protection which will ultimately allow subnatural forest ecosystems to be found through “free evolution”. Including overseas territories, the network of integral and managed biological reserves represents 170,000 ha. As part of the biodiversity plan, the State has also committed to creating the new National Forest Park in Champagne and Burgundy in 2019, of which more than 3,000 ha will be classified as a complete reserve. In these forest ecosystems preserved over the long term, the reconstitution of guilds of large herbivores with hunting control and/or by large carnivores would make it possible to assert this subnatural character to tend as much as possible towards a very high naturalness close to the "primary forest" stage. To conclude, if there are no longer any primary forests in France, except in Overseas where these forests are already largely protected, the preservation effort led by the State through the network of biological reserves, nature reserves and national parks should make it possible to better protect existing sub-natural forests and guarantee that new areas of sub-natural forests will be gained in the future. To do this, the Biodiversity Plan confirmed the creation of an 11th national park dedicated to lowland forests in Champagne-Bourgogne within which the aforementioned integral reserve will make it possible to constitute a vast freely evolving forest area, thus becoming the largest forest reserve in metropolitan France. However, we must continue the effort to inventory subnatural forests, particularly outside the public domain, and be vigilant regarding the effective protection of forest stands in protected sites.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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