Adaptations to long-term climate uncertainties: socio-ecological trajectories of French forest management.

Summary The socio-ecological trajectories of forests are considerably dependent on the silvicultural practices chosen by their managers. However, these management choices are likely to evolve in order to take into account the impacts of climate change on forest environments. The objective of the following work is therefore to understand the changes in forest management induced by adaptations to climate disruption (CCA). It focuses on metropolitan France, where forests are one of the most important ecosystems - they cover three quarters of the surface. Three research themes were used to address this issue: (1) the diversification of CCAs (which forest ecosystem goods and services (EGS) are targeted? (2) the importance given by foresters to technical approaches, in comparison with reflections on the socio-economic organization of forest management . and finally (3) the integration of ecological dynamics in the design and implementation of adaptations to climate change.Chapter 1: Inventory, through field surveys, of CCAs in private and public forests. The adaptations identified concerned only a few of the many forestry EGS, the most important of which were wood production, carbon storage and preservation of natural habitats. These adaptations were primarily implemented in response to climatic hazards already experienced by foresters. Above all, these adaptations were the result of changes in silvicultural techniques, in which humans intervene in the forest socio-ecosystem, modifying its natural components.Chapter 2: I studied the public funding of research projects dealing simultaneously with climate change and forestry. I showed that one of the causes of the lack of consideration of the socio-economic aspects of CCA comes from the pre-eminence of technical research, with very little focus on socio-cultural, regulatory or support ecosystem services.Chapter 3: Back to the field, for a case study on payment for carbon storage. I have highlighted how the diversification of income generated by this type of innovation is an indirect way for foresters to adapt to climate change, by decreasing their dependence on wood production that is highly threatened by climate disruption. Chapter 4: Synthesis of the learnings from the previous chapters, through the creation of a participatory forest management simulation. In Foster Forest, various forest management actors are immersed in a scenario of strong climate change. In order to carry out their own mission, they have a range of silvicultural practices at their disposal, based on standard practices, but which are not sufficient to cope with climate disturbances. To compensate, the participants are free to propose changes to the rules of the game in order to evolve the socio-economic organization of their forestry activities. The ten or so applications of this participatory simulation, in different French regions, confirmed the results of the previous chapters. The games played also shed light on the importance of territorial coordination structures in the development of adaptation projects, at scales that are complementary to the sole "plot" vision.