Forestry cooperatives
In France, forestry consultants and forestry cooperatives are able to take charge of forestry management. They provide valuable services and advice on silviculture.
The role of the forestry cooperatives is to bring together member forest owners and act in their interest to facilitate the management and mobilization of their wood.
Most notably, they take charge of planting, the implementation of felling work, the sale of felled timber, drafting of the ‘PSG’ forest management plan and all the documentation required by sustainable management.
In this respect, forestry cooperation is a management method.
The advantage with a forestry cooperative is that it groups sales to attain high volumes, thus accessing specific markets that are difficult for individual forest owners to penetrate.
Another benefit is that, as in all cooperatives, the logistic, administrative and material resources are pooled.
There are 19 cooperatives in France, located across the country. They are set up and administered by forestry producers with a direct stake in the forest and a passion for silviculture.
120,000 forestry owners are members of these 19 cooperatives, which manage a total 2 million hectares of forest. They market 7Â million m3 of wood every year and employ over 1,000 people. This form of cooperation drives a real economy based on the forest.
When you own a property in France, even a small plot, it is well worth joining a forestry cooperative.
For several reasons, in fact:
- Firstly, because the cooperative is a way of pooling the human and material resources required for good-quality, sustainable management of the forest.
- However, being a member of a cooperative is also a way of improving the terms for supply to the primary wood processing sector.
- Finally, you benefit from sound advice from forestry managers, especially on silviculture.
In France, forestry management is the job of a professional forestry manager. The forestry cooperative is thus a management solution, especially for small holders who do not necessarily have adequate resources for proper management and exploitation of their forest.
