Why buy a forest?

There are as many reasons to buy a forest as there are owners, and this in itself contributes to the diversity of forests and their management.

Buying a forest

It may be a means of investing money for retirement, or supplementing your income.

But it can also be a way of creating a link between generations, passing down a durable family heritage.

Or it can be about managing an area together, while respecting ecosystems and supporting the local economy.

Buying a forest is also and perhaps above all, a pleasure... The pleasure of:

• Seeing the trees grow, seeing a natural environment evolve over the long term
• Producing a renewable resource
• Providing wood to companies that need it, contributing to the real economy
• Doing some manual work, learning about forestry work and the wood trades
• Understanding the complexity of current ecological, climate and energy issues
• Raising children’s awareness of nature and teaching young people about an economy based on natural resources.

The forest is pretty miraculous!

It combine economy, ecology and social issues. Here, money is not destructive, people can cover their needs without destroying the resource.

Buying a forest is a way of developing social responsibility, of forging links between nature and an materialistic society that is increasingly concerned about its future.

Forestry

Forestry has long been practiced in wooded areas by farmers and loggers, and has taken a more formal form since the 19th century. Forestry know-how is shared and nurtured by all those who work directly with the forest. Good forest management seeks a balance, and endeavors to use forest resources without degrading this thriving, extraordinarily efficient environment.

Harvesting and selling wood without compromising the ecosystem's ability to provide its many services in a sustainable manner is an exciting task!

And, in the forest, sustainability is not measured in years or even decades, but in centuries. This is why the forest brings people and generations together and marks history, as the film ‘Aigoual, Rebirth of a Forest’ beautifully illustrates.

Timber production for various uses, habitat for fauna and flora, recreation and education... even private forests can fulfil these different roles under clear conditions, which exclude, for example, the replacement of stable forests by fragile monocultures, quad rallies and commercial hunting.