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Some French people choose to heat with wood to reduce their gas and electricity bills. The savings can be significant, especially if their town hall gives the right to collect wood for free or almost free from the communal forest. This is called affouage, a practice that dates back to the Middle Ages.
At this moment, a noise disturbs the calm of the Burgundy vineyard of Brochon (Côte-d’Or). It comes from the forests upstream of the vines, it is that of the chainsaws. Retired, Jean-Paul Vidal cuts wood on a plot that belongs to his municipality, which gave him the right to do so, for a symbolic thirty euros. This is called affouage. “Each plot is numbered, and we draw a number at random”, explains the affouagiste. The latter cannot cut any tree on the plot assigned to him.
Rules are established by the ONF (National Forestry Office). Mathieu André, municipal councilor, enforces them, and specifies in particular that trees marked with a line must not be cut down. For individuals, the affouage is more than enough to keep warm. In addition to allowing a very significant saving, this mode of heating is also very ecological.