Financial support for the development of forest roads

Specific sector

The legislation on assistance to improve and develop forest structure, planning and infrastructure of forest ecosystems provides for aid to construct and consolidate forest roads, open up logging trails, and develop storage facilities.

Applicants must submit their application to the district authority with jurisdiction, which will notify them of the decision of the Nature and Forest Agency (Administration de la nature et des forêts).

Who is concerned

Any owner of forest land.

Where forest land is jointly owned by multiple natural or legal persons, the aid will be granted only once.

Delimitation roads are not subsidised; nor is normal maintenance work.

Prerequisites

Those who own more than 20 hectares of forest must provide the government administration department with a valid document relating to planned forestry activities:

which applies to all their forest holdings; and
has been approved by the government administration.

To benefit from the aid, the applicant must confirm that the length of the planned forest roads exceeds 200 metres.

The length can be reduced to 100 metres, provided the stretch of road to be built is part of a system of forest roads at least 200 metres long.

The forest roads must be less than 4 metres wide, and have no more than a 10 % gradient.

The trails must be at least 50 metres in length.

The logging tracks must be less than 4 metres wide, and have no more than a 15 % gradient.

In addition, it must be in a listed green zone. This requirement precludes surfaces where:

pesticides are used; or
lands on which:
- groundworks that harm the soil structure are carried out; or
- drainage works or fertilisation are carried out.

Deadlines

Applicants must file their applications prior to the commencement of any work.

How to proceed

Filing an application

When filing the application with the head of the district concerned, applicants must state the following on the form (available under 'Forms / Online services' below):

their surname and first name;
their address;
their telephone number;
their banking institution and account number;
their national identification number;
the total area of the forest property;
information about the area in question: commune, section, locality, cadastral number and cadastral surface.

If the applicant owns a farm, they must also specify:

the farm holding number;
the farm accident insurance number.

Supporting documents

The application must be accompanied by the following:

a topographical map (scale 1:10,000) showing the route of the forest road;
an extract of a cadastral map (scale 1:2,500) for the plots in question;
a copy of the approved proposal;
a copy of the requisite permit.

Once the work has been completed, a copy of the receipted invoice must also be provided.

Decision

The head of the district will inform the applicant of the Nature and Forest Agency's decision, and the measures to be taken to receive a subsidy.

Amount of aid

The aid covers up to 80 % of the total cost or of the duly accepted quote, if the quote is less than the total cost (including VAT).

Requirements

The beneficiary is required to carry out regular maintenance of the infrastructure for which the subsidy is granted.

Repayment of aid

Any aid paid out must be repaid to the State Treasury when:

it was obtained by means of knowingly false or incomplete representations on the part of the applicant;
the beneficiary has failed to comply with the conditions to which the granting of the aid was subject. In that event, the beneficiary must also pay interest on the amount given, at the legal base rate, calculated as from the day of payment to the day of repayment.

If a false declaration is found to have been made through gross negligence or through failure to adhere to the principles of good forestry practices, the beneficiary is precluded from receiving aid for the year in question.

If they make a deliberate misrepresentation, they are excluded for the following year as well.