A Living Lab for the creation of a forest bocage in the Landes of Gascony territory.
Led by INRAe, Alliance Forêt Bois and IEFC, this project aims to bring together local stakeholders to experiment with the deployment of broadleaved species hedgerows and study their impact on the biodiversity and resilience of maritime pine stands in the Landes area.
Why talk about bocage in the Landes?
The Landes of Gascony Forest is at the crossroads of many issues:
The Landes Forest is dominated by monocultures of maritime pine. This low species diversity makes it vulnerable to attack by insects and pathogens, whose risks are increasing under the impact of global change. Added to this a heightened vulnerability to the risk of storms or fire when age classes are similar over too large an area.
Forests are one of the last refuges for terrestrial biodiversity, and their ecological functions must be preserved and restored (source of food, dispersal corridor for wildlife, habitat for animal and plant species, etc.).
The Landes Forest plays a key role in the local and national bioeconomy. It is essential to make it more resilient to maintain its wood production capacity and continue to support the ecological transition. |
To address and reconcile these issues at landscape level, we propose to draw inspiration from Nature-Based Solutions, in particular the concept of the agricultural bocage:
Agricultural Bocage
Landscape where fields are bordered by a network of earthen levees planted with trees in the form of hedgerows.
These hedges provide numerous ecosystem services:
– Biodiversity conservation
– Protection of crops against pests
– Protection of soil and water resources
– Carbon storage
– Flood control
– Physical barrier against wind
Example of agricultural bocage (left) and the concept of “forest bocage” (right)
The aim of the project is to transpose the agricultural bocage concept to the maritime pine plantation system by preserving and improving the network of hardwood hedgerows.
What’s a Living Lab?
A Living Lab is a participatory innovation approach that seeks to include local communities, citizens and traditional stakeholders at every stage of a project, from conception to deployment. It is though this approach, combining scientific experimentation and stakeholder consultation, that we hope to create a shared dynamic for the dissemination of improved practices.
Our Living Lab’s efforts are currently focused on a limited demonstration area.
A 50,000-hectare demonstration zone in southern Gironde department, France
What does the Forest Bocage living lab actually do?
The first stage consists in verifying the role of mature hedgerows by quantifying their effect in hosting biodiversity and protecting adjacent pine plantations. INRAe researchers are in charge of biodiversity inventories in these deciduous hedgerows, and you can find the popularized protocol here.
The second part of the project consists in carrying out hedgerow planting trials in order to resolve technical issues concerning the design, preparation and installation of such linear plantings. Teams from the Alliance Forêt Bois cooperative are working with forest owners and nurseries to make this method more reliable and deploy it throughout the region.
Our project was awarded the SRB label by the Regional Strategy for Biodiversity of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, recognizing the relevance of our approach to regional biodiversity issues, as well as its innovative, partnership-based nature.
Picture library
Agenda
The Forest Bocage project began in 2021 and has funding secured until 2025.
Past and future events:
| Date | Event | Documentation available (in french) |
|---|---|---|
| 19/09/2022 | COPIL No.1 about project objectives and methods | Compte-rendu |
| 07/09/2023 | COPIL No.2 on the implementation of actions | Compte-rendu |
| - Ecological interests of hedgerows - Technical issues for hedgerows installation | Présentation INRAe Présentation AFB |
|
| 14/06/2024 | COPIL No.3 to present the results and deployment levers of the model - Meeting of the bocage forestier project to improve biodiversity and resilience in the Landes de Gascogne massif | Presentations |
An ecosystem of partners to pool our expertise
Coordination andanimation
Research & Development
Expertise in biodiversity and ecological continuity
Expertise in forest management
And all other stakeholders who follow us on a regular or ad hoc basis:
- Municipal forests
- Forest owners
- Civil society
- Wood industrials
- Nurseries
- Fire and prevention experts (SDIS, DFCI)
Expertise in certification and financing
The funders of the Living Lab
