The SocialForest partners have held a technical and field visit day this Thursday in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where the fourth consortium meeting of the project has taken place. The aim has been to learn on site about several innovative initiatives in forest management and climate change adaptation developed by Xylofutur and INRAE, as well as other projects in which they are involved. The activity has brought together project partners from Spain, France and Portugal, who have taken part in a technical tour of different forest areas and pilot sites located around Bordeaux.
The day has begun with a visit to the INRAE Pierroton research centre, where the REINFFORCE project has been presented, an initiative of the Interreg Atlantic programme aimed at monitoring, adapting and protecting European Atlantic forests against climate change. The activity has included a tour of the centre’s arboretum led by Christophe Orazio, Director of the Institut Européen de la Forêt Cultivée (IEFC).
Afterwards, the participants have travelled to one of the SocialForest pilot areas, where early forest fire detection systems developed within the project have been demonstrated. This demonstration has been carried out by Franck Gauthier, from the Sylviacare initiative.
The day has continued with a visit to the forest cooperative Alliance Forêt Bois, where its representative, Loïc Cotten, has explained how this cooperative forest management model works. The experimental unit of INRAE Pierroton, dedicated to research and experimentation in forest ecosystems, has also been presented. Forest operations engineer Armand Clopeau has shown the visitors the latest developments.
Finally, the programme has included another field visit to the municipality of Hostens, where forest management on a private estate has been presented and another SocialForest pilot site focused on forest regeneration using biostimulants has been visited. This activity has been presented by Christophe Bonazzi, from the company Elicir, together with the owner of the forest estate.
These visits have allowed the project partners to exchange knowledge and analyse practical experiences in innovative forest management, strengthening the international cooperation promoted by SocialForest.