The latest in forestry and logging on show

FOREXPO, THE European forestry and logging show, will take place at the heart of the largest European reforestation project, Mimizan, in the Landes, from 6 – 8 June 2012.
In the aftermath of Klaus (the devastating storm) 220 000 hectares need to be replanted in Aquitaine. They need to be quickly and professionally replanted at a rate of over 30,000 hectares per year.
The need for wood, the only naturally renewable eco-material, is growing: under the leadership of the Xylofutur competitiveness cluster the building, wood energy, green chemistry sectors are using more and more raw materials and the traditional Aquitaine industries: sawing, panels, paper, furniture … are just as demanding as ever.
Given the scale of the damage and the extent of needs, the industry as a whole is questioning itself. Foresters are the most affected and they need concrete answers, machines, skills, information and exchanges. How can the principal European industrial forest be replanted? What are the guarantees? What species are going to be used? What are the opportunities? And all this against a backdrop of sustainable management and climate change, where there will be more heat and less water. Therefore we need to repair the damage but we also need to prepare for the future.
In a forest where innovation is a tradition, Forexpo (celebrating its 50th anniversary) is going to fully play its role as the showcase for Southern European industrial forests. The 2012 event, which will take place in the middle of a forest as usual, will present the range of forester itineraries, forestry machine innovation, replanting species and supporting species.
It will also be an opportunity to review the maritime pine’s genetic improvement program, which is one of the most advanced in the world.
More than 25,000 professionals visited over 350 exhibitionists at the event which took place at the Bordeaux Technopole four years ago.