In 2023, the Sidas World Foundation sought to further anchor its commitment in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and more specifically in the Vercors mountain range, by supporting the Sylv’ACCTES association over a three-year period. This association’s mission is to promote sustainable forest management by providing technical and financial support to forest owners undertaking environmentally significant work.

The forestry actions supported always have a positive impact on the climate, biodiversity, and landscapes, and follow a strict set of specifications developed through local consultation. These actions are based in particular on:

• Natural regeneration
• A preference for tree species diversity
• Multiple vegetation layers to increase available habitats
• The preservation of deadwood to support biodiversity

The intervention methods selected by Sylv’ACCTES ensure that forestry operations are carried out while preserving soils, waterways, and landscapes. One of the specificities of Sylv’ACCTES lies in its local scale of action, which ensures consistency with local expectations, transparency of the approach, and strong ownership of the method by regional stakeholders. As a result, the silvicultural practices it supports are adapted to each forest massif.

To learn more about the association and its projects : https://sylvacctes.org/

In the Vercors, the main forestry challenges identified include:

• Maintaining the uneven-aged structure of beech-fir forests (currently the dominant forest type in the Vercors, covering nearly 50,000 hectares)
• Improving beech stands
• Renewing spruce stands in the montane zone

By partnering with Sylv’ACCTES, local stakeholders have chosen to prioritize traditional forest management through uneven-aged high forests. Clear-cutting is prohibited, and mixed-species stands are encouraged to combat forest homogenization.

The project results are the following :

• 630 hectares of forestry work have been carried out in the Vercors with the support of Sylv’ACCTES
• Across all forest massifs in Isère (Vercors, Chambaran, Belledonne, Bas-Dauphiné, Chartreuse, Greater Grenoble area, and Southern Isère Alps), over 1,030 hectares of forestry work have been completed and supported by Sylv’ACCTES