This month, we move to France, and the Suquarel Forest, located in the heart of the Cévennes National Park, at the headwaters of the River Tarn. The Suquarel Forest is a mosaic of old growth and more recently planted beech and Scots pine forest together with plantations which replaced abandoned farmland in the 1970s.
This family-owned and operated forest has a rich heritage of biodiversity, a result of the owners’ desire to preserve and enhance the forest’s natural character by maintaining the pre-existing network of old-growth woodlands comprising beech, Scots pine, and mixed deciduous corridors, particularly in the riparian zone.
The silvicultural practices undertaken by the owners enable harvesting of wood to continue without the need for clear-cutting, thus ensuring a permanent forest cover is maintained. This maximises carbon storage in both the soil and trees, increasing the resilience of the stands to climate change, whilst considerably benefitting wildlife.
Replacing the coniferous trees with native broadleaves in riparian zones ensures maintenance of a permanent deciduous forest cover along the river corridors. This is important not only for the protection and enhancement of water quality, but also for regulating the flow of water out of the forest. Combined with providing ideal habitats for beavers (well-known for their role in natural flood management), the broadleaf riparian planting will help to reduce flood risk in the surrounding areas.
The Suquarel Forest is managed by ALCINA (FSC®C172958), the first forestry management group to be FSC-certified in this region of France. The project has been supported by the Cévennes National Park, the Centre Régional de la Propriété Forestière Occitanie, and FSC France.
In 2021 the forest received impact verification for: Biodiversity; Carbon; and Water.
The main outcomes of this project include:
- Sequestration of 225 tonnes of carbon each year for the next 30 years.
- Habitat protection for endangered species including the short-toed eagle and white-clawed crayfish.
- Protection of water quality in the catchment.
In order to continue to maintain and enhance the Suquarel Forest to achieve these and further Verified Impacts, sponsorship is required. If you are interested in integrating the Suquarel Forest into your climate strategy through sponsorship, or learning more about other forests around the world with Verified Impacts, please contact: valueforest@fsc.org
If you are interested in finding out more about UK forests with FSC Verified Impacts, please contact:
Karen Paterson, Forests & Ecosystem Services Manager: karen@fsc-uk.org