A tool for wood mobilisation in sensitive areas

A tool for wood mobilisation in sensitive areas
04.042019
Secteur
Forest
DateProject completed
In the Grand Est, part of the resource is under-exploited or even inaccessible. Indeed, the forest areas located on slopes of over 30% or in areas with poor soil (which we will call sensitive areas) represent 225,000 ha of production forests and 23,000 ha of poplar groves. An increasingly large proportion of this wood resource is difficult to mobilise. These sensitive areas are very sensitive to compaction by harvesting machines, which often leads to higher harvesting costs and a negative ecological impact. For these reasons, this resource is often neglected by forestry operators.

Thus, offering professionals an alternative tool makes it possible to meet this demand: the TVS 20 for “Winch Vigneau for Sensitive Environments with a pulling capacity of 20 tonnes” is a winch skidding tool with a multifunctional foot to be installed on a mechanical shovel.

This project has therefore made it possible to provide a tool for the mobilisation of wood in sensitive areas, while respecting environmental aspects and controlling the cost of exploitation. This project also made it possible to define the resources that can be mobilised in private and public forests, as well as to publish a technical notice and practical recommendations for exploitation in sensitive areas. This project was led by the manufacturer Vigneau Matériels Forestiers (VMF) and conducted in collaboration with the FCBA technological institute, the forestry cooperative Forêts et Bois de l’Est (F&BE) and the Office National des Forêts (ONF).

Objectives

The TVS 20 solution, developed and tested as part of the project, aimed to enable entrepreneurs to :

  • to respond to major calls for tender by accessing areas that are currently inaccessible and thus to diversify their markets,
  • to be able to mobilise, when climatic conditions lead to a deterioration of the bearing capacity, the volumes of wood necessary to meet market expectations.

To support the technical development project, the ONF carried out a study of the resource in the eastern part of the Vosges massif. It has made it possible to evaluate the volumes and products that can be mobilised over a period of 10 or 15 years. It gives clarity to companies and managers, and allows investors and financiers to prepare a development strategy for the years to come.