Financial evaluation of two models for energy production in small French farm forests

The aim of this study is to propose a financial analysis of two wood energy production practices from coppices-with-standards on small French private farms located in the “Coteaux de Gascogne” area of Midi-Pyrénées region. Moreover the farm-forester benefits from construction timbers and forest amenities. Thirty-year coppice is managed in a common non-commercial way to supply home-consumed firewood provided by annual harvesting of one-thirtieth of the stand's surface area of mature coppice. But this common non-commercial practice could be replaced by a commercial clear-cut of the whole coppice stand carried out for commercial purposes, with an additional transition cut being made when the managed coppice is adapted from non-commercial to commercial usage. The non-commercial management system generates wood energy which serves as a basis for the local endogenous development of farms, whereas the commercial management system supplies commercial firewood for sale to owners of second homes in the study area. To develop non-commercial or commercial forest practices on small coppice-with-standards it would be necessary to link a French forest area development scheme with a Leader+ European contract.