when picking acorns saves forests

Every year in autumn, it’s a race against the clock. In the forest of Villefermoy (Seine-et-Marne), collectors sort the acorns of fallen oaks. “It’s important to go fast enough because the acorns that fall off would risk germinating with the humidity and the heat of the last few days. We would risk having an acorn that has already germinated and is unsuitable for growing a plan later”explains Emeric Dioudonnat of the territorial unit of Val-de-Seine. Sprouted acorns are rejected as well as those with small holes, as they are attacked by worms.

Acorns are not chosen haphazardly. Officers study the trees and their sturdiness. “These are trees that are up to three centuries old and if it is already that age, it is because it has experienced climatic incidents and the acorns picked up from the ground will make it possible to have trees that are resistant to climatic changes”, says Renaud Trangosi, forestry technician. They are then treated before going to a nursery in Normandy. After two years, return to the forest of Villefermoy, where new oaks repopulate virgin plots.