Teak logs at a traditional sawmill (Bali, Indonesia) A. Rival © CIRAD

Forest resources

Forests cover almost a third of the Earth's land area, half of which – two million hectares – is in warm regions. Natural and planted forests have a major social, economic and ecological impact on a global level, for the planet, and also on a national and local level for individual countries, firms and people. CIRAD supplies the scientific bases required for sustainable management of natural or planted forest ecosystems in humid and drier regions, so as to boost their contribution to the development of countries and people in the global South.

Expertise

Evaluation of forest resources and the impact of human activity on those resources

Phyto-ecological and floristic characterization of land use units
Analysis and understanding of the heterogeneity of forest cover on various spatial and time scales, with a view to explaining its variability
Soil characterization and mapping
Characterization of genetic diversity using various markers
Establishment, management, monitoring and analysis of permanent plots to study forest dynamics.

Development and management: production forests, community forests, protected areas, etc.

Analyses and diagnoses of the forestry sector: sector policies, land rent, forestry taxation
Estimates of the impact of human activity on forest environments, so as to analyse the interfaces between ecosystems and social spheres
Environmental impact studies
Sustainable management of wood resources as part of development plans
Database management
Study of the resilience of natural tropical forests.

Planted forests

Support of certification and of public policies for sustainable management of planted trees
Characterization of the environmental services rendered by planted forests
Ecological intensification of wood production.

Plant improvement and seed production

Analysis of genetic improvement methods and strategies for planted forest species
Advice on and support for varietal creation techniques
Advice on mass production of forest varieties for industrial plantations (seed propagation, vegetative propagation using cuttings and in vitro culture)
Analysis and development of conservation strategies for threatened forest species
Advice on managing tree species in agroforest environments
Advice on molecular marking techniques as part of forest genetic resource management
Implementation of seed production plans: establishment of seed population networks, seed orchards, etc.

Forests and agriculture

Support of assisted natural regeneration in cultivated areas
Fuelwood resource management
Regeneration and development of degraded forests
Monitoring and use of secondary forests
Integrated landscape management.

Biomass energy

Support of the drafting and implementation of national energy strategies in the global South
Technico-economic feasibility studies of energy projects
Agricultural waste processing and recycling using thermo-chemical processes: carbonization, gasification
Support of the development of ways of generating electricity and heat through co-generation.

Tropical woods

Assistance or technical support for the choice and use of tropical woods
Physical and mechanical characterization of woods: quality control, on-site appraisals, physical and mechanical testing (French and European standards), planted wood quality improvement, technological characterization of little-marketed woods and development of their use
Advice on tropical wood and forest product economics and markets
Anatomical identification of woods: determination of the genus and botanical species of small wood samples
Wood preservation: The CIRAD wood preservation laboratory specializes in protection against fungi and termites.
Identification of biological damage on tropical woods.