Local Development Project Based on the Forest-Wood Sector in “Pays D’Epinal”, Vosges, France Pays D'épinal
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Local development project based on the Forest-Wood sector in “Pays d’Epinal”, Vosges, France Pays d'Épinal 1. Background 1.1. Territorial aspects The whole action is implemented by a consortium of several public and private entities: The “Communauté d’Agglomération d’Epinal” represents 78 municipalities and focuses on the economic development of its territory, by supporting projects, particularly industrial projects. The “Pays d'Épinal” includes 169 communes and is concerned with ecological preservation, land planning, social innovation and the promotion of natural and cultural heritage. The “Maison de l'emploi du Pays d'Épinal” (literally “house for employment’) acts as a link between the private and public sectors thanks to its skills in terms of monitoring employment and training, as well as territorial animation through the local “Terres de Hêtre” (literally, “land of beech”) brand/label. All professionals in the forest-wood sector are mobilised for various actions, especially to give recommendations aiming at the sustainable development of this sector in the local territory. All levels of training in the forest-wood sector are present in the Pays d'Épinal, from short cycle of technical education in all fields to Master and PhD degrees at ENSTIB (an engineering school) and Université de Lorraine (https://www.enstib.univ-lorraine.fr/en/). This network enables developing strong links between education, R&D structures and jobs. 1.2. Socio-economic context The Pays d'Épinal represents one third of the Vosges département’s (administrative district) area, is located in its center, and encompasses 140,000 inhabitants. The distribution of the population is very uneven across the territory. There is an important demographic core around Épinal, but overall the density is quite low. The Pays d'Épinal has a substantial employment potential in relation to the departmental scale, but unemployment has increased significantly, particularly for the most exposed populations (young people, seniors, long-term unemployed). More than a quarter of jobs in the Pays d'Épinal are in industry or construction. However, there has been a decline in the productive economy in the territory. In urban or rural areas, around 10% of the population benefits from social aids. This phenomenon is increasing over time. A difficult economic and social situation can be observed, especially in rural areas. 1 / 20 1.3. Forests The afforestation rate within the study area is 42%, which is both higher than the national average (27%) but lower than the in the whole Vosges department (47.7%). Private forests State-owned without forests 22% management plan 20%. Private forests with management plan 8% Community forests 50% Distribution of forest area (by surface area) The forests of the Pays d'Épinal cover an area of about 100,000 hectares: 50% belong to the Communes (municipalities) or other local communities, 22% to the State (“Forêt Domaniale”) and 28% to private owners. Therefore, public forests represent a very large proportion (72%, 71 600ha) of the forest area, and are managed under the forestry regime by the National Forestry Office (ONF). 2 / 20 The important point of this distribution is the high proportion of small properties: more than half of the forest area belongs to owners who own less than four hectares. This result is close to the average observed in the Lorraine region. It confirms that the first obstacle to management, noted in forest policies, is forest fragmentation. In addition, 28% of private forests are composed of properties of more than 25ha. This proportion is quite heterogeneous accross the territory, with the highest proportion of 38% in the Vôge sector. In private forests, the first factor influencing management and logging potential is related to the surface area of the properties. Communal and state forests are public forests managed by the ONF (National Forestry Office). PEFC forest certification is voluntarily subscribed to by owners and communities; 83% of the forest area submitted is PEFC certified. However, the adhesion of the communes is not systematic since only 61% of the forest communes have committed themselves to the eco-certification of their forest. Public forests are predominantly deciduous (80%), as are private forests (55%), but the proportion of white softwood (fir and spruce) is much higher in private forests than in public forests. 3 / 20 Beech is the major tree species in the area. It is associated with Scots Pine and Fir in mixed1 forests. On the other hand, pine is the main species on some southern slopes, where beech is replaced by oak. Oak is the main species in the eastern part of the Pays d'Épinal, then gives way to Beech in the western part. Oak remains present everywhere but is scarcer in the western part, due to a better natural regeneration of Beech. Beech - Fagus sylvatica - is a common species in the plains and is present up to an elevation of 1700 m. The surface area is estimated at 11,000 ha of forests where beech represents a cover of between 35 and 65%. Then there are 10,500 ha more where Beech is present but not the main species (< 35%). Adding all types of beech forests, this species is present on about 40,000 ha of forest. This species tolerates great variability in soil conditions, but is responsive to water deficits during the growing season, particularly in June-July-August. Beech is not very competitive on very acidic sites. It avoids hydromorphy (temporarily waterlogged soils) and finds its optimum production on silt and calcareous brown soils. As a mesophilic species (particularly adapted to average conditions), it is not adapted to more extreme ecological conditions. Beech is a shade-tolerant species: a high degree of shade favors regeneration of seedlings. Therefore, it is particularly well adapted to uneven-aged silvicultural systems. The objectives of beech silviculture recommended within the framework of sustainable management are the following: Produce quality lumber that is white, soft, with homogeneous tree ring width. Promote biodiversity by encouraging mixture of species and increasing the diversity of habitats (dead wood) for wildlife Decrease stand vulnerability to pests and extreme weather conditions (as storms and droughts). 1.4. Timber industries 1 Mixture of hardwood and softwood species, neither of which alone exceeds 75% of the canopy cover (National Forest Inventory) 4 / 20 Below is a diagram representing the different stakeholders in the forest-based sector, in the 4 sub-sectors of management, logging, primary and secondary wood processing. Boundaries between categories are not fixed, with several overlaps. Three emblematic wood companies are established on the territory: Norske Skog Golbey (paper mill), Pavatex (wood wool insulation) and Egger (particle board manufacturer) in Rambervillers. These three industries consume more than one million tons of wood annually. Norske Skog Golbey and Pavatex are located in what is called “the Green Valley”, in Golbey near Epinal. Norske Skog aims at adapting its production system to the decline of the world market of newsprint. The Green Valley is a cluster of several companies that fosters share services (as energy or wood supply) and thus creates an industrial ecosystem. This ecosystem led to : 12% reduction in energy consumption Reduction in raw material consumption: saving of 9,000 tonnes of wood per year Reduction in water consumption: savings of 90,000 m3/year The sale of wood is a key step in the forest-wood chain. There are three main ways of selling wood, in descending order of importance in the Pays d'Épinal : - Competitive bidding process: this is a public sale where the wood is generally sold as standing trees, and the buyer is in charge of logging. It remains up to now the main method of sale, with 78% of the volumes sold over the last 4 years. - Supply contracts: this is the second most common way of selling, accounting for 17% of volumes. It has been growing steadily for the last five years. Contracts are negotiated for several years. Roundwood logs are sold by the owner or his representative (as forest cooperatives), who is in charge of logging. 5 / 20 - Over-the-counter sales (“de gré à gré” in French): this method of sale means a direct negotiation between a buyer and a seller. It remains limited and represents 5% of sales. Geographical destination of Beech logs harvested in the public forest (evaluated on the basis of volumes sold in the last 4 years). As shown in the figure above, sales by contract foster local development by enhancing cooperation between forest owners and local timber industry. ONF as a public forest management institution must supply local industries to foster local policies. Therefore, a significant proportion of the timber sold as roundwood is processed on the territory of the Pays d'Épinal. For standing timber, a high proportion is sold to forest loggers who harvest the stands and sort the timber, then act as intermediates between the forest owners and a diversity of customers from several places. The main criterion guiding the flow thus becomes price at a given time, which explains the great increase in the volumes of wood exported, particularly to China, in recent years. Actually, purchase offers from foreign wood traders 6 / 20 have been more cost effective for forest producers than the local market, especially for lower qualities of logs, despite the handling and travel costs involved. - Where is wood sold after sawmilling? This analysis shows that a very small part of sawn timber is valued locally. Excepted dunnage, which is destined for French industry, sawmills are turning to distant markets, to the European Union or even to North Africa and China, to sell their products. The value added by primary wood processing is not valorized locally. While softwood sawmills are more adapted to global markets, most of local beech sawmills are too small to access larger markets.