Legislation on financial aid for the maintenance and improvement of the ecosystemic benefits provided by forests includes an aid scheme to restore and improve the favourable state of conservation of rare and remarkable forest phytosociological associations exhibiting a characteristic range of plants such that they can be identified as:

• Medio-European limestone beech forests – 9150;
• pedunculate oak or oak–hornbeam forests – 9160;
• hillside forests;
• scree or ravine forests – 9180;
• bog woodland – 91D0;
• alluvial forest – 91E0;
• stable xerothermophilous formations with Buxus sempervirens – 5110;
• xerophilous campanula oak forests – BK14;
• mixed oak forests – BK23.

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 per plot.

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 receive the aid, the applicant must confirm that the eligible forests:

• are in a listed green zone. This requirement precludes lands 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;
• are at least 30 ares of contiguous land, of which over 75 % comprise one of the below types of associations mentioned:
  • Medio-European limestone beech forests – 9150;
  • pedunculate oak or oak–hornbeam forests – 9160;
  • hillside forests;
  • scree or ravine forests – 9180;
  • bog woodland – 91D0;
  • alluvial forest – 91E0;
  • stable xerothermophilous formations with Buxus sempervirens – 5110;
  • xerophilous campanula oak forests – BK14;
  • mixed oak forests – BK23.

• The lands must:
  • be among the potential sites defined in the action plans for 'alluvial forests' or for 'ravine forests'; or
  • exhibit the environmental conditions which ensure the eventual formation of one of the above-listed phytosociological associations.

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, cadastral surface, surface area affected, and protective zone.

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 topographic map (scale 1:10,000) showing the location of the site;
• an extract of a cadastral map (scale 1:2,500) for the plots in question;
• a copy of the measures set forth in the management plan authorised by the minister. In the case of ravine, riverbank and alluvial forests, marsh alder forests and peat birch forests, the management plan must be approved by the head of the administrative department;
• a copy of the proposal for restoration or improvement measures.

Once the work has been completed, the applicant must also provide a copy of the receipted invoice.

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 a portion of the costs, at the following rates:

• 70 % of the total cost of the measures to restore or improve the favourable conservation status in the forest habitats listed in Annex I of the law of 18 July 2018 on the protection of nature and natural resources;
• 90 % of the total cost of the measures to restore or improve the favourable conservation status in the forest habitats listed as a priority in Annex I of the law;
• 100 % of the total cost of the measures to restore or improve the conservation status of the associations of micro-environments listed in paragraph 1, in relation to the implementation of:
  • a management plan for a protected zone defined or declared under the terms of the law of 18 July 2018; or
  • a plan of action for a 'species' or 'habitat', developed from the national plan for the protection of nature.

The aid will be paid once the work is completed, upon the submission of an invoice, proof of payment thereof, or other supporting documents.

Requirements

The aid will only be granted by ministerial approval.

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.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact