The lung of the planet, the forest is home to numerous animals and plants. Did you know that a handful of forest land contains more living organisms than there are people on Earth? Faced with the progression of deforestation, sustainable forest management is a necessity. The NGO PEFC has been working since 1999 to preserve the forests of France and the world.
What is sustainable forest management?
Developed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable forest management is inspired by the concept of sustainable development , widely spread by Brundtland's report. The Rio declaration on forests brings together international wishes and recommendations for sustainable forest management.
This concept of sustainable forest management sets up a vision for our forests, capable of providing people with the goods and services they expect without impacting their future. We can hope, thanks to these conditions, to bequeath to future generations an environment that they can also enjoy.
In Europe, sustainable forest management must respect five criteria defined at the Helsinki conference (1993):
- Conservation and improvement of forest resources (maintenance of production capacities)
- Maintaining the health of forests , their good sanitary condition
- Satisfaction of the production function (wood and non-wood products)
- Respect for biodiversity in forest ecosystems
- Protection of soil and water
Sustainable forest management is a global ambition, although it is not applied by all countries. In France, the Ministry of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Forestry ensures its proper application.
Why do we need to manage forests sustainably?
A handful of forest land contains more living organisms than there are people on Earth. This gives an idea of the biodiversity that we have to protect.
Worldwide, forests cover more than 1/4 of the planet's land surface .
Two thirds of the recorded terrestrial animal and plant species live in forests.
On Earth, 300 million people live in forests and 1.8 billion depend directly on them for their livelihoods. A forest where several species coexist is more resistant to diseases and climatic hazards.
A true carbon sink, forests store 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Diversity is also favorable to living organisms, under the cover of trees and in the soil. To protect or develop this biodiversity , it is important to take care of the soil by ensuring its supply of organic matter.
Forest biodiversity under threat!
Despite their crucial role, forests continue to lose ground : while in 1990 they covered around 4.128 billion hectares, in 2015 they only cover 3.999 billion hectares or 30.6% of land. Some 129 million hectares of forest - an area almost equivalent in size to South Africa - have been lost since 1990.
An area of Amazon rainforest the size of a football field is now being cleared every minute , according to satellite data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . Deforestation can occur quickly, for example when a fire sweeps through the landscape (as was the case in Brazil) or when the forest is clear-cut to make way for a palm oil plantation.
While deforestation appears to be declining in some countries, it remains at worrying levels in others - including Brazil and Indonesia - and a serious threat to our planet 's most precious forests remains, according to WWF .
Concretely, what actions are being taken to achieve this?
The general idea is to conserve the existing capital of our forests by respecting two main rules:
- Do not cut more than the natural growth of the forests;
- Replace adult generations of trees with younger generations.
This requires a whole system of long-term planning to know what to collect, where and when.
We can take the example of France: Each of the 17,000 French public forests has a management plan lasting 15 to 20 years. It establishes the guidelines, forest by forest, for the actions to be taken to respect these rules over time.
More concretely, if we are not sure of recreating an adult forest behind the one we want to cut down, we will not cut it down!
In France, we plant little . We favor natural regeneration which consists of accompanying natural sowing by seeds falling from the trees to the ground. When we have a carpet of young shoots on the ground that appears sufficiently dense, we then cut the trees above to start a new cycle. In certain cases, we are obliged to resort to artificial planting: we first cut down all the large trees before installing young plants raised in nurseries.
Quark is committed to the development of sustainable forests
At Quark we are committed to sustainable solutions. Our local and sustainable production strategy is at the heart of the creation of our Pegboards . At Quark, our development strategy contributes to the creation of an environmentally friendly and inclusive society.
We only source wood from sustainably managed forests. Our production line is not PEFC certified for reasons of cost of obtaining the certificate. However, we attach the greatest importance to the origin of our raw materials. We are therefore studying all the possibilities at our disposal to integrate circular economy materials into our production line.
As you can imagine, sustainable development is a priority at Quark! We are committed to local stakeholders . Quark contributes to operational solutions to accelerate the implementation of the ecological transition across its territory and show that national objectives are accessible.
For companies that commit, it is about integrating all the dimensions of sustainable production into their businesses and daily practices. Let's bet that this type of business will become the norm of tomorrow.
A great bet... That of choosing responsible growth for your company.
At Quark , we are involved in a sustainable creation model. We feel the world is moving and we want to support it in a viable model for generations to come.
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