Hanover, 08/10/2023 - Successful cooperation in Chambord: The Life Terra Foundation¹, the Plantons pour l’avenir Foundation Fund², the Scouts Unitaires de France³, and the lavera Thomas Haase Foundation are jointly implementing a reforestation project in France. Thanks to the tree donation from lavera as part of the lavera forest project, 400 scouts, Sven Kallen from Life Terra, and lavera employees, under the guidance of regional foresters, were able to plant a total of 8,729 trees on the National Estate Chambord, more than half of which were donated by lavera.

Climate changes in Europe such as drought, heat, or storms are stressing the tree population and thus France’s forests, which cover around 16 million hectares, about 30% of France’s total area⁴. Already in 2010, over 1,500 centuries-old oaks had to be felled in the famous Fontainebleau forest, 60 km southeast of Paris, due to lack of rainfall⁵. The Chambord forest, which surrounds the world-famous Renaissance castle and covers more than 5,000 hectares, has also been suffering from drought for years due to its sandy soil.

To preserve the forest as an environmental asset, the foundation fund "Plantons pour l’avenir" (Planting for the Future) was established in France as early as 2014, aiming to support organizations with projects that adapt French forests to climate change.

"Climate change, which is happening at a very rapid pace, is too fast for the forest to naturally adapt to," explains forester Tancrede Neveu, representative of the Plantons pour l’avenir foundation fund, at the planting event in Chambord.

Together with associations such as INRAE⁶ or Life Terra, the foundation fund is searching for tree species that can adapt to the climatic conditions of the coming decades. "The trees we plant today must be adapted to the climate so that they still exist in 40 or 50 years," says Mr. Neveu.

There are many government support programs in France, but the challenges are high, especially considering that about three-quarters of French forests are privately owned. Therefore, initiatives like those from lavera are very welcome. France aims to plant 1 billion trees⁷ in the coming years. This requires investments in nurseries, infrastructure, and teams. Awareness programs and educational work are needed to encourage forest owners to rethink and adapt forestry to climate change⁸.

"Experience shows that it is not the right approach to take cheap seedlings and plant monocultures again," explains foundation founder Sven Kallen from the environmental organization Life Terra, who organized the event and was able to win the lavera Thomas Haase Foundation and lavera as sponsors for the "lavera Forest Project"⁹.

A tree donation from lavera went this year to Life Terra for the Scout Association Scouts Unitaires de France or Plantons pour l’avenir. Mr. Pierre du Couëdic - President of the Scouts Unitaires de France, who was also on site in Chambord: “On the occasion of our 50th anniversary, which we happened to celebrate last year at the National Estate Chambord, we made a promise: 30,000 scouts want to plant 30,000 trees. The idea is that when our scouting activities take place a little everywhere in France with forest owners, it is always about raising awareness among our youth for the world of the forest, the world of the living, and nature.”

Experts selected trees for the current planting campaign that can also thrive with little water and tolerate temperatures up to 40 degrees: 2,494 black pines, 1,793 Calabrian black pines, 1,003 sessile oaks, 815 coastal redwoods, 690 Turkish oaks, 490 holm oaks, 2,856 American red oaks, 220 service trees, and 210 wild service trees¹⁰ were planted.

Prof. Fleisch, Chairman of the Lavera Thomas Haase Foundation: “We are especially pleased about this project because Plantons pour l’avenir, Life Terra, lavera, and the Thomas Haase Foundation pursue common, important goals for the world of tomorrow: to promote or initiate reforestation, environmental education, and research projects while combining fun and environmental protection measures. As a foundation, it is important to us that young people learn how easily sustainable successes can be achieved together through commitment and leading by example.” And hopefully, today’s youth will be able to experience these successes in the unique forest area of Chambord in 50 years.

1 Life Terra is one of the largest climate protection initiatives in Europe and aims to plant 500 million trees.

2 Plantons pour l’avenir (Planting for the Future) is a private, independent, non-political foundation fund, founded in 2014, https://www.plantonspourlavenir.fr

3 https://www.scouts-unitaires.org/accueil/qui-sommes-nous/

4 https://lmy.de/KbxZIRWn

5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TzW01HKalI

6 National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA, National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment), https://www.inrae.fr/

7 https://www.slobodenpecat.mk/de/makron-kje-zasadam-edna-milijarda-drvja-za-da-gi-obnovam-shumite-koi-giopustoshija-pozharite/

8 https://www.plantonspourlavenir.fr/le-programme-sensibiliser/

9 https://www.lavera.fr/monde-lavera/engagement-developpement-durable/projet-forestier?language-switched=1

10 Black pine (Pinus nigra), Calabrian black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii var.), Sessile oak (Quercus petraea), Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), Holm oak (Quercus ilex), Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis), Service tree (Sorbus domestica).