Contribute to the MigFoRest project: welcome new species to your forest
Vous êtes propriétaire forestier en Wallonie ? MigFoRest vous offre l’opportunité d’implanter à moindre coût des essences potentiellement mieux adaptées au climat de demain. En accueillant ces plantations dans votre forêt, vous participez activement à un projet innovant, qui vise à renforcer la résilience des forêts face aux changements climatiques.
The MigFoRest project aims to implement the assisted migration. Assisted migration is the act of taking species (e.g. downy oak) or forest provenances (e.g. Mediterranean sessile oak) from the south and planting them in the north, accelerating the natural migration that these species would have carried out to adapt to climate change. The project covers Belgium, France and Germany.
The choice of planting areas is based in particular on indicators inspired by the complex functional networks approach, which considers connectivity in terms of the natural dispersal of pollen and seeds between the areas where we plant and the surrounding stands. Based on this approach, priority will be given to forests that are highly connected, not very diverse or composed of vulnerable species (ash, spruce, etc.).
We have two plantation areas in Wallonia. One in the Condroz (municipalities of Assesse, Ciney, Gesves, Hamois, Havelange, Ohey and Yvoir) and the other in the southern Ardennes (municipalities of Bertrix, Bièvre, Daverdisse, Gedinne and Paliseul).
We are looking for all types of cover (cover crops, holes, clearings, etc.) and soil, in order to plant cells of 16 to 25 trees.
The list of species that we will plant in Wallonia can be found below. It has not yet been decided how the plantations will be distributed over the 4 years of the project (planting seasons 2025-2026 to 2027-2028).
Species to plant
| Quercus petraea | Sessile oak | Quercus frainetto | Hungarian oak |
| Quercus pubescens | Pubescent oak | Quercus pyrenaica | Pyrenean oak |
| Quercus robur | English oak | Quercus canariensis | Zean oak |
| Tilia cordata | Small-leaved lime | Sorbus aria | Whitebeam |
| Tilia platiphyllos | Large-leaved lime | Fagus sylvatica | Common beech |
| Sorbus domestica | Cormier | Fagus orientalis | Oriental beech |
| Sorbus torminalis | Wild service tree |
Our funding allows us to finance a significant part of the cost of the plants and the protection against game. The planting and the installation of protection are carried out by the SRFB, at our expense. Only potential felling (widening of a gap, for example) and any mechanised ground preparation work (if necessary) are to be paid for by the owner, but the trees to be felled can be marked with the SRFB.
If you are interested in the project, please do not hesitate to contact Louanne Collin: louanne.collin@srfb-kbbm.be
or by telephone: 0474 014 338 or via the form just below.
