More deadwood in forests: A major issue for resilience and biodiversity

What is the role of dead wood in our forests? This is the subject of the new Forêt & Naturalité’s investigation file. In this file, Forêt & Naturalité proposes to review current knowledge on dead wood and its role in forest ecosystems. 

One of the challenges of current forest management lies in seeking the balance between sustainable wood production and biodiversity conservation. Biodiversity has become a social issue in itself, but it is also increasingly considered, and rightly so, as an expression of the resilience of the environment to crises. Deadwood has an important role to play here, which is not well known or understood, and in any case not sufficiently taken into account. Unfortunately, and despite the knowledge that has been accumulating on this subject for several decades, its volume and diversity are still insufficient in Walloon forests. 

This file is intended for decision-makers, foresters, public or private owners, practitioners, but also students, teachers or citizens looking for a complete and structured source of information on the subject. The file addresses, among other things, the biodiversity linked to deadwood and the measures necessary for its conservation, the role of deadwood in maintaining forest productivity and carbon storage, and preconceived ideas about the perception of deadwood by foresters and the general public. At the end of the document, based on the overall scientific knowledge, Forêt & Naturalité makes recommendations for minimum measures to conserve deadwood.

Opinion

See the other files in the category Deadwood | Other

Our other investigation files

What place for the wolf in Wallonia?

What place for the wolf in Wallonia?

At the dawn of the return of the wolf to Wallonia, Forêt & Naturalité has formulated an opinion on the important issues at stake in order to successfully cohabitate with the various players in the area. The sustainable establishment of a wolf population certainly marks a new vision of the Walloon forest, wilder and freer.

Plea for a large integral reserve in Wallonia

Plea for a large integral reserve in Wallonia

In Wallonia, all the forests with a high degree of naturalness have disappeared, but we still have certain massifs with great potential for their redeployment. An essential first step would be to classify a large area as an integral reserve: a large integral forest reserve in the Walloon Region of 5000 hectares!