Contribution to the forest management plan of the Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert State Forest France

Context of the service

The national forest of Saint-Guilhem-Le-Désert covers 2,451 ha. Owned by the State since 1898, it is managed by the National Forestry Office (ONF).

This forest is remarkable because of the presence of the Salzmann pine, an endemic black pine, rare and threatened in France. As a result, there is a 219-hectare Managed Biological Reserve and a 511-hectare Natural Area of Ecological, Faunistic and Floristic Interest (ZNIEFF) type I. The Salzmann pine forest is also part of the Natura 2000 Site of Community Interest "Gorges de l'Hérault".

This forest is managed without being exploited, for reasons of accessibility and profitability but also because of its heritage character.

The two main threats to this forest are the risk of fires and the genetic pollution of the Salzmann pine by hybridization with Austrian black pines.

It is in this context that in 2009 the ONF initiated a process of revision of the forest management document, involving in particular a revision of the management plan for the Directed Biological Reserve.

Services provided

The expert carried out the following tasks:

- Support for the stratification of homogeneous vegetation areas by photo-interpretation of infrared aerial photographs (ArcView 3.2 software),

- Development with field agents of a forest typology comprising nineteen types of stands, distinguished by their cover rates, their types of vegetation, their structures and the species present,

- Support for the development of a description sheet of forest stands and description on the ground of these stands on the 2,451 ha of the State Forest,

- Inventory data entry, quantitative analyses and stand mapping, including assessment of the conservation status of Salzmann Pine stands,

- Recommendations for sustainable stand management and contribution to the new management plan.

Summary of the service

Contribution to the forest management plan of the State Forest of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert: Stratification of homogeneous vegetation zones by photo-interpretation; Development of a typology of forest stands; Inventory data entry, quantitative analyses and stand mapping, including assessment of the conservation status of Salzmann Pine stands; Contribution to the new management plan.