Where have the trees gone?
Clear-felling a woodland area is impressive! Foresters sometimes resort to it when it has reached the end of its cycle or the trees are too weakened (disease, drought, pests, etc.).
In Wallonia, clearings are permitted in strict limits by the Forestry Code (a maximum of 5 hectares of conifers and 3 hectares of broadleaves). In certain types of forestry, they constitute the final stage of a forest cycle initiated decades, or even generations, beforehand.
Clear-felling can also occur following major health problems, such as the bark beetle epidemic that affected spruce trees from 2018 onwards.
This temporary spotlighting can evoke emotion. However, it can also benefit many animal and plant species that appreciate open, sunny environments.
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This step is never the end of the forest: foresters ensure that new trees are replanted or that naturally regenerating young trees are supported.
Any clear-cutting must be followed by forest regeneration, whether by planting or natural regeneration.
Today, forest management is evolving, and clear-cutting is becoming less frequent. However, it remains a normal step in certain existing stands, particularly those resulting from old practices or heavily affected by climatic or sanitary events.
Foresters always work with the long term in mind: they inherit stands shaped by their predecessors and prepare those for subsequent generations. In most cases, they will never even harvest the trees they themselves helped to regenerate.
When to talk about deforestation?
When a forest (and its inhabitants) disappears entirely. Here, it's the opposite: foresters always ensure the forest is renewed.
Faced with a clear-felling, the term «deforestation» is sometimes wrongly used. In Wallonia, deforestation does not exist: a forest defined as such in the land-use plan remains a forest, even after significant felling. The owner has a legal obligation to regenerate it.
On the contrary, deforestation is spoken of when a forest is permanently removed to make way for other uses, such as agriculture (livestock, crops such as soy or palm oil), urbanisation or infrastructure. These changes lead to a massive loss of biodiversity and contribute to climate change.
Good to know
Humans and forests have a very long history. Human activities have always influenced the surfaces and morphology of forests. In our regions, the forest area began to decrease as soon as humans settled.
However, thanks to forestry legislation in Belgium, forest cover isconstantly increasing for over a century, increasing from approximately 435,000 ha in 1866 to over 700,000 ha today, of which around half belong to private owners.
To go further
- History of the Belgian forest: https://srfb.be/formations-et-activites/je-me-forme-pour-ma-foret/ressources-educatives/histoire_foret_belge/
- Global Forest Resources Assessment: https://www.fao.org/interactive/forest-resources-assessment/2020/fr/