Plant climate-adapted species
#00072
Use targeted subsidies to fund the planting of at least two climate-adapted tree species per intervention in declining communal forests. In Alsace this is delivered through the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace's "Forêts d'Avenir d'Alsace" program, which has been running since 2021 and explicitly targets the Sundgau among other declining areas.
Parent issue
#00041 Drought-Induced Forest Decline
Sustainable Development Goals
Description
When a beech, spruce, or ash stand collapses, communes face a choice: replant with the same species that failed, or experiment with something new. Most lack the budget and the expertise to do the second on their own. The "Forêts d'Avenir d'Alsace" program (FAA), launched in 2021 by the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace, exists to remove that barrier.
FAA subsidies cover the planting of climate-adapted species in communal forests, with one binding constraint: each intervention must include at least two species, complementing whatever natural regeneration occurs on the site. The aim is to start every new generation of trees as a small mosaic rather than a fragile monoculture. Communes apply through the Collectivité, choose from a list of candidate species recommended for their soil and climate, and receive support for both the planting and the early maintenance.
In the Sundgau the program is now active in several communal forests. It does not solve the drought problem itself — the trees still need water — but it changes the trajectory of the next generation, giving the new forest a better chance of standing up to the climate of 2050 and beyond. The big open question is which species will actually succeed on Sundgau's heavy clay soils, and only time will tell.