ONF is experimenting with trees that will be viable until 2070 under water stress

Beech trees are in decline due to drought in Saint-Baume, Provence. Oaks from Tronçais, Alliers, dead due to water stress and with unusually tall branches. Here are two examples, among many others, that show the damage of accelerating global warming in French public forests, but also in private forests. Without forgetting, as another equally harmful consequence, the proliferation of bark beetles (insect pests) which destroy fir trees throughout France…

To avoid this disaster and to adapt different tree species to climate change, marked by a temperature increase estimated to be between 1.5 and 4°C by 2070, foresters of the Office of National Forestry (ONF) established experimental areas. “On an area of ​​0.5 to 5 hectares, called islands of the future, of which there are 193 throughout France, we test the ability of species to adapt to a climatic context…