For the Rousseau’s, making sure the company’s activities are fully compatible with sustainable development has always seemed essential. Today, the cooperage wants to go further by funding the planting 2000 trees in a deforested area.

Our first steps : the PEFC certificate

The cooperage obtained their PEFC certificate in 2012. PEFC is the world’s leading forest certification system and is an internationally recognised agency devoted to ensuring that forests are managed according to environmental, social and economic criteria

The goal of PEFC is to promote Sustainable Forest Management and to create a strong framework for the protection of the world’s forests while at the same time promoting a strong global timber market.

However, beyond the PEFC, we felt we could go further by taking stronger actions to preserve the environment for future generations.

The reforestation project

This is how our reforestation program was born! To do so, we contacted the company Reforest’Action, that to date has replanted nearly 3 millions trees.

The cooperage committed to financing the plantation of 2000 trees in the Ferté-Vidame area of Eure et Loir in the Centre of France, in order to help rehabilitate a deforested area. Eure et Loir is one of the least forested areas of France, with only 12% of the territory covered by trees, compared to 35% on average in the rest of the country.

Benefits

This project will help foster a dynamic and sustainable forest ecosystem. Indeed, the forestation currently in the area is quite poor: it is made up of small trees which stop growing after a few years and don’t provide a diverse or complete forest canopy. The trees that will be planted will be mainly sessile oaks, along with some fruit trees (nannyberries and pear trees). This will increase the ecological potential of the project, by attracting birds, wild bees and beetles.

The benefits we expect :

• 2000 hours of work will be created
• 1 158 000 kms driven by car will become carbon neutral
• 6000 shelters for birds will be created
• 8000 months of oxygen will be generated

A picture of the ground before trees are planted :

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