Accordinggey, Tréclun, Vosne-Romanée, etc. For two months, the Côte-d’Or has seen forest fires multiply on its territory. And we have to face the facts, with global warming increasing from year to year, this phenomenon is not about to stop.
Conclusions are necessary: it is therefore necessary to adapt the silvicultural management of the forests of the department to “learn to live” with these fires. Easier said than done in an area hitherto unaccustomed to forest fires.
A 20-year work that goes up in smoke
Example on the heights ofselongey. On June 19, a forest fire ravaged the woods on the heights of the village. 26 hectares of pines and firs then went up in smoke. More than a month after the disaster, returning to the scene is still a heartbreak for Joseph de Bucydirector of the EFEL forestry group which manages these devastated plots. “It really is a spectacle of desolation. A work of 20 years that goes up in smoke” he sighs. For tens of meters, black charcoal trees. “It undermines our morale, us foresters, to see trees completely burned from the base to the top. The ground is also charred”.
Helpless Foresters
With rising temperatures, the forester knows that the risk of fire is always very present. So how to fight? “We pray, smiled Joseph de Bucy sadly. QWhat do you want us to do, we are completely helpless”.
The fire, no, we don’t manage it
And for good reason, in Côte-d’Or, no measures are planned for forests during periods of high heat. Hugues Servan, head of the department of the regional center for forest ownership, responsible for the management of private forests: “The fire, no, we don’t manage it. These are current phenomena, all the same quite recent. So for the moment it is not taken into account, or in any case badly taken into account in forestry management. “.
Facilitate the activity of firefighters, for lack of anything better
But why ? If Hugues Servan invokes the novelty of lights, he notes several blockages to solutions for the fight : “Taking water from the wild in anticipation of fires, that’s not possible by some regulations. Same with fire strips, as you see in the South. If we did that, we would violate the clearing rules”.
So what to do? Waiting for solid measures, Joseph de Bucy wants to increase the relationship between foresters and firefightersto facilitate their interventions: “We have identified several things: provide a map of all the woods to the sappers, prepare the land with motorable paths and provide on these paths turning places, to allow trucks to turn around quickly.
In Côte-d’Or, react rather than prevent in the face of forest fires
The doctrine of the moment: react, rather than prevent. Small consolation, the new regional forestry management plan should address the problem of forest fires. Hugues Servan: “We are starting to write awareness documents for forest users, in relation to fires. This year, with these forest fires which are multiplying, we have of course this problem in mind. It is very likely that we will work from the start of the school year.
Very likely, only? “It’s not even certain. Daily life in the woods already takes up a lot of time, and the means are lacking”concludes, annoyed, the employee of the regional center for forest ownership.
The hope of a national management plan?
Little hope, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday July 20 a “national site” for the forest with “more protective rules” and “long-term prevention” against fires. With a positive impact in Côte-d’Or? Answer in a few years.