mobilization of forest resources today and tomorrow

The increasing wood energy demand could cause an important mobilization of forest resources and be the reason of the forest management sustainability. To assess this risk, it is necessary to determine precisely the availability of wood in the forest. The methods used to evaluate the resource and forest availability have improved, but, paradoxically, misunderstandings have arisen because the published results vary according to the methods, which require great attention to the explanations in support of figures published in different studies. Currently, harvest is still far from the total availability in forest wood, even if we consider only the technically and economically part harvestable. However, the objectives set in the forest, if realized, would lead to an exploitation of forests much more intensive, which raises the question of maintaining the fertility of forest soils. Research must thus work on solutions that allow the exploitation of forest products while maintaining a high level of productivity. (authors)