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OAK FOR A KINGDOM THE FRENCH LEAD THE WAY IN REFORESTATION When you think of France and wooden floors, one sort of wood stands head and shoulders above the rest, namely oak. Why do we identify the French so closely with this sort of wood and take great pleasure in juggling with the expression French oak? Well, we’ve established not only that France is an ideal breeding ground, but also that in the past people gave this tree more than a helping hand.
Sun King and his navy A brief history lesson will help us to get a good grasp of this matter. We go back mainly to the 17th century. Oak was used to make ships, but then another acute problem emerged. The navy had to be supplied constantly with wood. Since everyone expected the navy to grow, under the reign of Louis XIV (yes, the Sun King), masses of oak trees were planted. One of the best examples of that is in the central department of Allier, with its total of 10,600 hectares of oak forest. The so called Forest of Tronçais was planted in 1670 by minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. What is strange is that most of the forest (73%) consists of sessile oak with a touch of beech here and there. That is particularly unusual since common oak is by far the biggest quantity of processed oak. This sessile oak (or Quercus petraea) is also called ‘Tronce’ in French, and that immediately accounts for the name of the forest. A particularly important use for wood from this forest is that it is used for the very best wine barrels.
There’s oak and there’s oak The Forest of Tronçais leads us inevitably to consider the wood sort oak itself to put us in a better position to estimate the differences in quality. First and foremost, there is a difference between sessile oak and common oak. Both sorts are indigenous, but it is most noticeable that common oak is found far more frequently. It is also noticeable that sessile oak enjoys less prominent light than common oak. It grows in sheltered places with a more or less humid atmosphere. By nature, sessile oak naturally accompanies beech. In some areas common and sessile oak trees are found together. Sessile oak has a preference for well drained soils in areas with fairly high rainfall and grows well in hilly areas with humous, loamy, and moderately acidic sandy soils and dry and stony surfaces. However, in contrast to common oak, you won’t find it on barren and arid sandy soils. It is equally less common on poorly drained clay soils; sessile oak cannot cope with floods and always grows outside the range of groundwater. By contrast, common oak can cope with temporary floods outside the growing season and also thrive better in areas with permanently higher supply of groundwater. It is noticeable that common oak grows best on nutritional, deep (and sandy), loamy and clay soils. The wood from sessile oak trees is of good quality and is used a lot to make veneer. An important point here is that the trunk is straight
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with no knots. Generally speaking, you can say that oak wood is hard, tough, highly durable, and easy to process and is usually in class 2. Remember that the best oak is that which grows the slowest (an oak tree can survive up to 200 years and longer). The width of the growth rings is worth considering because that can vary hugely. This depends on many factors, such as the position, temperature, amount of rain, soil condition, sort, competition from other trees, and the genes of the tree. In some cases the rings can be as small as 0.3mm, but they can also be up to 15mm. This sometimes makes it extremely difficult to estimate the age of an oak tree.
Harder and darker in colour What exactly is French oak? Obviously, it comes from France, but how do you recognise it? In this connection remember that French oak is harder and darker in colour and that you won’t encounter it all that often. What you usually will encounter is European oak, which is traditional oak wood. This is used to make things such as furniture items, stairs, doors, and parquet. French oak is cut in areas relatively close to the sea and is therefore somewhat softer and has a somewhat irregular structure.
Reforestation We hinted above at our next point. When it comes to France, you can certainly cite is as a country with a policy of reforestation. That’s for sure. The forest surface area is gradually growing again through the reforestation of disused wastelands, abandoned fields, and mountain regions. At the moment, just over a quarter of the country’s total surface area is forest. The vast majority of forests comprise deciduous trees, but there has been a rapid rise of coniferous trees due to the high yield. Moreover, it is only the forest land owned by the government which is exploited. Two thirds of the forest area is owned privately and is too dispersed to be exploited successfully. All together, about 550,000 people work in forestry and the timber industry in France.
Certification France is also a pioneer in sustainable forest management. For instance, the French government recently expressed its aim to use at least 50% wood or other bio-based materials in the construction of new government offices. This shows the government recognises the climate and environmental benefits of wood as compared to fossil materials such as concrete, metal, and synthetics. Moreover, did you know that this country has initiated scores of certificates? One example is the CE labelling. Few people give it a thought, but CE stands simply for ‘Conformité Européene’, which literally means European conformity. CE labelling on a product indicates that the manufacturer’s product meets the essential requirements of European health, safety, and environmental legislation.
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