Program context
Forest managers need to rethink their silviculture to cope with current climate change, and even more so with the changes to come: they need to prevent and treat forest dieback, as well as devise, assess and recommend new management practices (particularly at the key moment of stand renewal). For this, they can rely on research, always with a focus on the multifunctionality of forests: a healthy forest, properly renewed, rich in quality wood and biodiversity for future generations.
Sycomore is a program of scientific research, innovation and socio-economic development, focusing on intelligent, connected and precision forestry. As Sycomore’s pilot, the INRAE Val de Loire center coordinates the contributions of 20 regional academic and socio-economic partners working on trees and forests.
Strategic objectives
- Structuring a national and international academic forest cluster on the sustainability of forest production in the context of climate change.
- Strengthen links between the region’s academic and non-academic actors around this same objective and regional economic development.
- Consolidate regional education and training in the forestry-wood industry and, more broadly, in agricultural and forestry sciences.
Operational objectives
- Monitor, manage and prevent dieback of the main tree species in the Centre-Val de Loire region (sessile and pedunculate oaks, Scots pine) and contribute to their marketing,
- Renew forest stands after harvesting by maximizing the survival of seedlings and identifying the genetic resources best suited to the climate of the future,
- Develop methods and tools to support decision-making and know-how for precision, connected, multi-performance (economically, ecologically and socially) silviculture at regional, national and European levels, and set up participatory monitoring to characterize and monitor the state and dynamics of forest ecosystems.
Three research projects (2021-2024)
- Réconfort – Assessing and anticipating dieback to maintain sustainable, multifunctional forest management
- Renouv – Renewing the region’s forests to make them more resilient in the face of climate change
- GenForFutur – What forest genetic resources for the future in the face of climate change?
The actors
- Regional research laboratories studying trees, associated biodiversity and pests, forests and their uses, combining ecology and social sciences (CNRS, INRAE, INSA Centre Val de Loire, Université d’Orléans, Université de Tours).
- Regional thematic research networks (RTR): MiDi and Entomocentre.
- Actors from the forestry-wood and plant-based industries: Fibois, CNPF-IDF, ONF, DSF, UNISYLVA, Dream, VEGEPOLYS VALLEY, AgreenTech Valley, CybeleTech.
- Actors promoting research: Le Studium and Centre Sciences.
The funder
Sycomore is financed by the Centre-Val de Loire region as part of a program called “Ambition Research Development Centre-Val de LoireL” (ARD CVL), which aims to provide new answers to the major challenges posed by the climate and environmental emergency. This program is helping to create world-class research and development clusters with high visibility and appeal, working closely with the region’s socio-economic fabric.