In October 2024, PlantC celebrated its fourth anniversary. Four formative years, rich in action, including in the forest!
Since 2020, we have been engaged in a partnership with the Royal Belgian Forestry Society, which allows us to finance forest projects. Eligible plots are those that have been affected by pests like the bark beetle, by storms, or plots entirely covered with brambles and ferns for many years.
Our forest actions, in figures
With the help of our valuable partners, we have been able to finance 49 forest projects, spread across 34 Municipalities throughout Belgium.
The projects undertaken have generated a reduction in carbon footprint emissions of 13,485.06 tonnes of CO2 over a 30-year period.
This corresponds to the reforestation of over 77 hectares of forests. Representing 95,955 trees planted, with an average survival rate of 90% in the majority of cases.
Do we truly add value to these projects?
It is clear that nature does not need us. A forest could regenerate following sanitary felling or storms. We act as facilitators. These projects are part of silvicultural management and do not involve the creation of integral reserves.
We remain convinced of the importance of silvicultural management in a world that will need to substitute highly emissive materials (concrete, steel, etc.) with bio-based resources in the long term.
We are also deeply convinced that silvicultural management and timber production are not opposed to biodiversity preservation and the emergence of diversified and thus more sustainable forests. On the contrary, all of this is complementary. Therefore, we require a mix of species and ask for a minimum of three different species in planting plans. They must necessarily include hardwoods. Conifers are not prohibited! Did you know that mixed forests have the greatest potential for biodiversity? And that certain species are dependent on mixed stands?
Utilizing a diversity of species is beneficial for wildlife. Flowers, fruits, and acorns are sources of food for birds, insects, and small mammals, for example.
Consequently, when leaves fall, humus is generated, and root systems are complementary. This will impact the recycling of deep elements, the biological activity of the soil, the fixation and structuring of the soil.
Finally, from a health perspective, diversifying forests helps limit overall risk and increases the resilience of the forest ecosystem.
This project particularly inspired us…
We supported a project of 1,448 trees in Suxy. The owner’s plot had been entirely devastated by bark beetles, and he decided to replant no fewer than eight species!
- 500 Beeches
- 125 Sessile Oaks
- 125 Hornbeams,
- 100 Turkey Oaks
- 51 Atlas Cedars
- 150 Scots Pines
- 210 European Larches
- 187 Bornmüller’s Firs.
The owner transformed a spruce forest into a plot more resilient to future climate changes and more welcoming to biodiversity.
Naturally, we will continue to contribute to forest reforestation projects in the future. We take this opportunity to thank our partners, without whom none of this would have been possible!
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. So the true second best time is to plant 1,000 with us, today.
