Forest resources and wood availability in Normandy - quantities and implications

In the face of growing demand for wood, in particular for biomass uses and so as to avoid tensions between users, official bodies in the Normandy forestry and forest-based industries attempted to more clearly assess the available timber resources in the short and medium term. A study was conducted on forest resources and availability of wood. The results confirm the intuitive assessment that the current rate of removal is high and identified 775 000 m³ of additional timber volumes that could be logged in private forests, essentially for biomass or industrial timber purposes coming from three separate sources which each account for about one third of this amount: a more dynamic silvicultural approach in small to medium-sized (4-25 ha) private forests, replanting of 'unproductive' stands and integrated harvesting of logging residues. However, although the conditions pertaining to those harvests were identified and partly quantified, these additional volumes of timber are still only potentially exploitable and the necessary means can only be activated by the regional industry as a whole. The latter needs tools that provide incentive, leadership and means for acquiring and disseminating technical and scientific knowledge providing guidance for removals on one hand, and reforestation on the other. (authors)