Footprints in the forest - Fern

In respect of individuals
I would like to request the property for which I am responsible to be certified in terms of
its sustainable management, in accordance with the Belgian certification procedure for
sustainable forest management, in order to take part in the PEFC system for the mutual
recognition of national certification systems.
To do so, I undertake to:
1. respect the applicable forestry regulation, in particular the Forestry Code, the
Walloon Code for Town and Country Planning and Heritage, and the Nature
Conservation Act;
2. undertake training in sustainable forestry management;
3. organise my forest by maintaining or even restoring the areas of particular biological
interest (boundaries of deciduous forests along water courses, clearings and no new
drainage in marshy and peaty areas);
4. introduce species that are suited to the location with sufficient variety, in particular
by using the ecological species file;
5. establish mixed populations (mixing of species and/or ages, tree by tree or in groups
and maintaining complementary species), as long as the location conditions and the
structure of my property so permit;
6. apply dynamic silviculture (suitably sporadic and intensive clearance) particularly in
order to improve the amount of light that reaches the ground and the biodiversity of
my populations, along with the water and mineral element cycles;
7. leave old and dead trees in certain populations, within the required phytosanitary and
safety limits;
8. establish mechanical methods for soil preparation and clearance, in preference to
chemical methods;
9. promote organic and/or integrated protection methods for my plantations or
populations;
10. take into account the presence of unusual trees or populations on my property in
order to envisage the collection of seeds from them, as a guarantee of the maintenance
of the genetic wealth of the Walloon forest;
11. only undertake clear cutting judiciously and never exceed a surface area of 10 ha in a
single clearance;
12. implement methods making it possible to guarantee a forest/game equilibrium, through
the maintenance and/or development of shrub vegetation, along with grassy pastures
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