Pézarches forest

Our Pézarches forest is located southeast of Paris, measuring more than 15 hectares and is classified as a Natura 2000 site, a programme protecting rare and endangered flora and fauna. The forest is an old coppice, which we support and maintain to obtain an uneven-aged forest.
When we acquired this forest management, it was divided into three plots, the largest plot being 12 hectares, mainly planted with Sessile and Pedunculate Oak, Aspen, Chestnut, and Ash. The Oak in this forest is doing very well.
About 2 hectares are a moderately rich coppice, but under standard conditions. This plot is mainly Oak, Aspen, Ash, and Hornbeam. The Aspens and Hornbeams are considered harvestable.
The third and last plot, not more than one hectar, was a coppice in relatively poor condition, mainly populated with Oak, Ash, and Black Locust. The poor condition is partly due to a clear-cutting, where the re-growth was left without maintenance. The Ash trees in this area were also infected with Ash dieback, a chronic fungal disease.

We have carried out several activities in the forest to develop it into an uneven-aged forest and increase its biodiversity. A forest with mixed tree species will help make the forest more resilient and better equipped to deal with climate change or attacks by fungi or invasive species.
We want to reduce the number of planings we do and extend the forest cycle by natural regeneration. To do this, we have to find a balance between the old coppice, the semi-mature trees (50-80 years old), and the youngest part of the forest. We cut the Ash trees, which would not have recovered from their Ash dieback infection. Cutting them was also the only solution to prevent the fungi from spreading to more trees. We have also made cuts to clear a path between four and five meters wide to allow space for machinery to pass without damaging the trees and to give some of the trees more light.

We have cleared up the overgrown forest pond to make better space for birds, amphibians, and hygrophilous plants can settle there again. We have also installed more than 22 beehives that our beekeeper Olivier Girbal takes care of. He also treated oak trees affected by an invasive caterpillar species, whose presence prevented us from accessing the forest.
We have established an educational trail in the forest to raise public awareness of the forest's cycle and the usefulness of sustainable forest management. On the trail, people will find information about the tree species and the local flora and fauna.
Lastly, we have removed all waste left in the forest and applied for a 'Wild Territory’-label.