A few days after the violent fires that ravaged more than 20,000 hectares of forests in Gironde, foresters are trying to save the wood affected by the flames, which can still be used for a few days, as quickly as possible, in order to limit their losses.
In July, more than 7,000 hectares of forest burned in Girondein La Teste-de-Buch near the Arcachon basin, and nearly 14,000 hectares in Landiras, in a pine monoculture.
If he is “still too early to draw up a balance sheet” According to the union of foresters of the South-West, the Gironde timber industry fears a significant economic impact from the fires. Nicolas Douzain, General Delegate of the National Federation of Wood, believes that “two million cubic meters of wood are concerned”, a volume equivalent to “40% of what is processed annually in the Landes basin”.
In order to save their industry, Girondin foresters are “started in a race against time”, says Éric Constantin, New-Aquitaine regional delegate of the National Forestry Office (ONF).
“We need to be able to diagnose and harvest as much injured and dead wood as possible and make it usable,” he said. “You have to recover everything that can be done in a short time to avoid the accumulation of insect pests such as bark beetles. If they settle, it can damage healthy trees.
Pallets and charcoal
Quickly harvested, the wood that has burned remains usable, explains the ONF on its website. Impacts and superficial traces of fire can however lead to a downgrading of possible uses.
The least affected wood can be destined for lumber, the first level of use for construction or furniture, “but in the inferior quality, that is to say pallet wood”, explains Yves Rigole, wood sales manager at the Midi-Méditerranée territorial department of the ONF. In Gironde, it is the maritime pine, a forest species adapted to sandy soil, which is exploited for the manufacture of pallets “like 70% of Aquitaine woods”, emphasizes Nicolas Douzain.
The lumber is drawn from the bole, the largest and best shaped part of the trunk located between the ground and the first large branch. Small dimension wood is called industrial wood. It is used for the manufacture of particle board, paper and cardboard or for green chemistry.
However, the uses begin to be degressive if the fire is more heavy and aggressive. For example, the woods “not calcined, but licked by the flames can in no case be used in stationery wood” due to the presence of black bark which “pollutes the cooking of paper pulp”, emphasizes Yves Rigole.
If the damage is too great, wood energy remains the ultimate outlet: according to the wood sales manager at the ONF, the most affected wood is exploited in the form of “coal and biomass” to produce mainly heat and electricity.
Risk of new fires
Nothing is lost for the Gironde timber industry “able and likely to add value to these products”, emphasizes Eric Constantin. But “the amount of wood that can be saved also depends on the availability of labour”, tempers Nicolas Douzain. Yves Rigole, too, recognizes that it is possible to recover the damaged wood provided that the personnel can mobilize within a short time and that the forest massif remains accessible after a fire.
The rescue of wood still faces other obstacles, such as the still high risk of forest fires, the Gironde having returned to red fire vigilance since Monday.
“You have to keep in mind that the fire is not extinguished”, specifies Éric Constantin, before continuing:“If you want to enter the forest to intervene on a fire that is not extinguished, you need the means of firefighters nearby to be able to deal with any eventuality, which is not responsible in these times. We are still in the middle of summer and unfortunately the means of intervention cannot be over-mobilised”.
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