Forest plantations, between sustainability, climate change and controversies
Résumé
Climate change is now a more and more recognized reality. In France, 700 scientists recently mobilized to call on the government to start the action towards a carbon-free society. Indeed, the expected consequences are important, even dramatic: increase of the extreme events, displacements of people, conducting to the development of climate refugees. Ecosystems will also be affected, with some changes and moves of the animal and plant species; the process already begins. The change doesn’t concern only climate and some authors prefer speak about “global change”. In all cases, the sustainability should now be thought in this new context, meanwhile it should allow to mitigate the climate / global change: the impacts of the anthropogenic activities on ecosystems have to be reduced. In this framework, to raise awareness of the necessity to preserve ecosystems, the concept of ecosystem services was also developed. This presentation will be the opportunity to discuss first these different concepts.
A way to mitigate climate change could be forest plantations. Indeed, they offer the possibility to capture and store CO2, thus to mitigate the greenhouse effect – knowing that climate change has also an impact on the forest plantations and should be considered (choice of the planted species, way to manage these plantations, for example to reduce fire risks). Forest plantations are also consistent with the sustainability – even if some linked practices are less favorable (example of the use of chemical inputs) –, providing an alternative for the exploitation of spontaneous forests; offering local resource, which reduces the transport-related impacts. These arguments are presented by the forestry sector, which highlights the ecosystem services of these plantations. But these ones are at the heart of controversies and, at the opposite, other stakeholders highlight disservices: spoiling of landscapes, loss of biodiversity. A trade-off has to be found…