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In forests, operators are multiplying clear cuts, which consist of cutting down all the trees on a plot and then replanting them. This practice is increasingly contested because it causes soil subsidence and disrupts the ecosystem. Faced with the global shortage of wood, however, the objection has little weight.
Overnight, gaping holes appear in the forest cover. These are the results of clear cuts, which consist of cutting down all the trees on a plot and then replanting them. A method decried by some for its consequences on biodiversity, but encouraged by others for the good health of the wood industry, which has to face a global shortage of this raw material.
In the Landes forest, a harvester cuts fifty-year-old maritime pines on a plot. The operators claim that it is a cultivated forest, and that the pines have reached maturity. They will be replaced. On some plots, the objective of the clean cut is to produce wood that meets industry demand, whereas the wood that was previously present on the plot did not correspond to it. But this practice is used too systematically in France, according to associations for the defense of the environment.