• Details
  • The 24th January 2009, the storm Klaus reached the south west of France with exceptional violence.

    With winds reaching more than175k m/h, Klaus is regarded as the most destructive storm with the one of 1999.
    The storm affected 595 000 hectares of the forest range of the Landes of Gascogne that is to say 46% of its surface area.
    Nearly 224 000 hectares of forest have been destroyed at more than 40%.
    The surviving trees were weakened and had to face bark beetles' attacks. An additional 29 560 ha were destroyed.
    The forest range which provides more than 30000 jobs was in danger.


    The government drew up quickly a programme « Plan Chablis » based on 8 years (from 2009 to 2017) to come to the aid of the foresters victim of the storm and to restore the forest range of Aquitaine. Europe and the French government granted a total budget of 490 Millions of Euros. This grant aims to help transporting the damaged wood, cleaning the plots and their reforestation. The goal was to rebuild as quickly as possible the forest range of the Landes of Gascogne, vital resource for the wood industry.

    Planfor's professional foresters have helped the forest owners with their administrative procedures.

    After exploiting the damaged wood, the owners can submit a request for help to clean up followed by a request for help to rebuild. These files of request for help can be obtained with the DDTM. The work cannot start before the financing decision has been given by the administration.


    Cleaning of the damaged plots:
    The eligibility's conditions to benefit from those helps to clean up are:
    - The woods are exploited,
    - The trees have been damaged at more than 40 %,
    - The damaged areas measure more than 4 hectares, with islands of 1 Hectare minimum.
    For areas smaller than 4 hectares, the owners can regroup in islands of 1 Hectare minimum so that the total area measures more than 4 hectares.

    Planfor proposes different cleaning technics:


    Grinding:
    The grinding machine's characteristics allow it to intervene on not very sizeable stumps.
    Carried by a tractor, it allows working quickly on diffused damages.
    The clean finish of this work does not ask for additional intervention.

    Watch the demonstration video of stumps grinding (click here)


    Shredding using a stump-muncher:
    Stumps and exploitation's waste are fragmented and spread on the surface so as not to hamper the future work.
    The shredding suits large wastes and allows good breakdown of the fragments.

    Watch the demonstration's video of the shredding using a stump-muncher (click here)


    Lining up:
    The tilted stumps are removed from the soil and the cleaned up (removal of the earth), their roots are cut using a stump-muncher.
    The stumps or the sawed pieces of wood are then piled up so they can be skidded.
    The retrieval of these stumps will be used to supply the market with wood fuel.


    Reconstruction of the damaged plots:
    After the cleaning up operation, it can be necessary in some cases to undertake a regularisation cut so that the plots can be rebuilt.

    The eligibility's conditions to benefit from grants to reforest are:
    - The plots' damages are higher than 40 %.
    - The cleaning up has been done.
    - Bark beetles has been declared before exploiting and prior to the 31st December 2011.
    - Regularisation cuts have been done.

    Rebuilding with Maritime Pine after a storm follows the usual silvicultural path.
    Planfor's specificity is to offer plants that have been treated against Hylobius.

    In the grants, there are options which take into account different improving points of the plots:
    - The cleaning up which allows maintenance and creation of ditches.
    - The biodiversity which takes into account the diversification of the varieties grown or the maintenance of existing islands of lobed-leaved trees.
    - Protection against game.
  • Photos (2)
  • Cleaning up and Rebuilding after the storm Klaus
    Cleaning up and Rebuilding after the storm Klaus
    Grinding
    Author: Planfor
    Copyright
    Cleaning up and Rebuilding after the storm Klaus
    Cleaning up and Rebuilding after the storm Klaus
    Shredding using a stump-muncher:
    Author: Planfor
    Copyright


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