Planning and implementing forest operations to achieve ... - Woodweb

- flesh out his forest analysis methods, and from the dtpartement of Moselle, which owns the
lake.
- improve and enhance his silvicultural
techniques. From confrontation to cooperation
The case of the Romersbergforest offers a response The principal, and extremely active, Lorraine-based
to these challenges, nature conservation association - called The Lorraine
Site Conservancy (LSC) - has its headquarters a few
km from here. Because the failure of conservation
FOREST MANAGEMENT AND procedures has had the effect of heightening the
BIODIVERSITY: vigilance and increasing the mistrust of
THE EXAMPLE OF THE MANAGEMENT OF environmentalists, these latter reacted actively in
THE STATE-OWNED
1991, when a seed trees in one of the forest plots
ROMERSBERG FOREST (MOSELLE) were felled,
The geographical and political context
The regional press was alerted and the ONF was
accused of being bent on destroying the ecological
A "pond district"
wealth of this forest in the name of financial
profitability. A banner was even unfurled in front of
The state-owned Romersberg forest, which covers the journalists proclaiming: "Amazonia is in France
420 hectares, is situated on the Lorrain plateau, in too".
the dtpartement of Moselle, about 45 km east of
Nancy. It has been the property of the State since the This attack took foresters by surprise. In fact,
French Revolution. It has been undergoing although they were aware of the plan to create a
conversion to high forest for about 100 years, and
nature reserve, they did not think that they had
consists essentially of oak and beech. It lies on marly damaged the biodiversity of the area by carrying out
soils, often covered with silt, which are advantageous felling in a progressive natural regeneration. To
for forest production. But its main feature stems
clear the air, the ONF thus approached the LRNP
from its location at the heart of the small region and the LSC. With the backing of Professor Rameau,
known as the "pond district" on the eastern shores of Professor of forest ecology at the Forestry School in
the Lindre lake, known internationally for its Nancy (ENGREF), a study programme on the
ornithological interest. The "pond district" is part of relationship between forest management and
the Lorraine Regional Nature Park (LRNP), which is biodiversity was drawn up and spelled out in a threekeen
to develop tourist activities in this area, which way agreement between the LSC, the LRNP and the
focus on the discovery and exploration of nature. ONT. Funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and
the Ministry of the Environment was requested and
The Lindre lake and its protection
obtained for this programme.
The ornithological interest of the Lindre lake has Programme and findings of the studies
given rise to a project, put foward by nature
undertaken
conservation associations, to have it listed as a
nature reserve. These associations are in fact worried The framework for cooperation
about seeing its natural wealth whittled away by
increased fishing and poorly supervised tourist It goes without saying that the study of the
development. Romersberg natural forest heritage involved bringing
together many scientific and technical disciplines.
Several studies have been carried out in this area
The work of the various specialists was thus
over the past 20 years, to define the boundaries of incorporated within a steering committee. Because of
such a future reserve, and they have all concluded this structure, fruilful exchanges have been
that it is necessary to include the Romersberg forest successfully established between foresters and
in it (ecolor. drae - 1985). But the project has not naturalists, with a view to drawing up a concerted
come to anything because of opposition from the forest management plan.
mayors of the towns and villages concerned and
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