Bauges, France
The Bauges Case study is a Natural Regional Park in the French Northern Pre-Alps. Its main objective is to balance the different dimensions of development: environment, social and economy. The Bauges is a karst moutain range characterized by a steep and irregular topography, with an elevation ranging from 256 to 2217 meters. Concerning forest resilience it especially aims at:
- Identifying and promoting relevant adaptation practices such as promoting mixed stands and thus avoiding large areas of pure spruce stands.
- In the process of identifying tree species or provenances adapted to the future climate.
- Developing practices favourable to biodiversity (species mixing, preserving old mature forests) and compatible with the production function (identifying trade-offs).
- Keeping landscapes attractive for recreational activities (hiking, mountain biking, skiing, wildlife observation) and managing tourism/harvesting conflicts.
- Developing local value chain (second transformation).
- Help forest stakeholders collaborate and share information
Quick overview
Area: 52 000 ha |
Value chain: Small-scale wood industry |
Biogeografical area: Mountainous |
Species composition  |
In short
Case Study - Bauges, France | |||
Disturbances |  Pests |  Drought |  Storms |
Ecosystem Services |  Wood & biomass production |  Outdoor recreation |  Biodiversity conservation |
Case study Q&A
What are the silvicultural measures applied – if any?
Sanitary practices for bark-beetle. Promoting uneven-aged mixed stands. Promoting biodiversity-friendly practices (e.g. keeping veteran trees). Planting several drought resistant species in some gaps created by disturbance. Testing new species (small area planting).
What is the amount of the wood harvested?
The harvested volume in the case study area represents 40 000 m3 per year in public forest and 20 000 m3 per year in private forest, mostly coniferous species (97% in public forests). The average annual increment is 141 000 m3.
Case study partners
