France

It was in France’s Burgundy region that Listone Giordano learned the secrets of an ages-old method of forestry. France is universally known as a model of eco-sustainable forest management. For centuries it has preserved and nurtured a massive heritage of forests and woodlands. Some 16 million hectares, in fact, more than a third its territory. And each tree is counted, cultivated and cut when mature, after which replanting begins and the cycle starts all over again. All in keeping with ancient traditions. The history of forest management in France goes back deep in time.

The first documentation of it dates to the Middle Ages, when monastic orders jealously guarded this precious resource. Like a forest called Cîteaux, in the Burgundy, a refuge chosen by Cistercian monks in about the year 1000, and then protected and cultivated by them over time. The same rules they applied to tending to their woods still today safeguard the health of the old French forest, making sure it is properly used and ensuring its progressive growth. One fact often explains more than a thousand words. By properly handing the forest down over generations, always looking towards the future and closely following the strict rules of sustainable management, over the past hundred years this French forest has doubled in size and tripled the amount of wood it yields.