ALLIANCE FORETS BOIS

Their core work

Alliance Forêts Bois is a French forestry sector organization — most likely a regional professional federation or industry alliance — based in Cestas, at the heart of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, home to one of Europe's largest planted forest areas. Their real-world work sits at the boundary between forest management practice and applied research: they bring the practitioner voice into large scientific consortia, translating field-level knowledge into research design and ensuring findings reach forest managers, woodland owners, and land stewards. In H2020 projects, they have contributed to both forest health (responding to invasive pests and pathogens) and large-scale ecosystem restoration (biodiversity recovery, close-to-nature silviculture, stakeholder engagement). They are not a research producer but a knowledge broker — connecting science to forest management practice on the ground.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 engagement (HOMED, starting 2018) was narrowly focused on forest health threats — specifically invasive non-native pests and pathogens, a reactive, crisis-driven topic. Their second project (SUPERB, from 2021) marks a clear broadening: the keyword set expands to forest biodiversity, ecosystem services, forest resilience, biodiversity monitoring, and close-to-nature forestry — all proactive, systems-level concerns. This evolution mirrors a wider European policy shift from protecting forests against acute threats toward actively restoring their ecological function.

They are moving from reactive forest protection into proactive ecosystem restoration — a trajectory that aligns well with EU biodiversity targets and the Nature Restoration Law, suggesting future collaboration opportunities in large-scale land restoration and sustainable forestry.

How they like to work

Alliance Forêts Bois has participated exclusively as a consortium partner, never as project coordinator, which is consistent with an industry association role: they add sectoral credibility and practitioner reach rather than leading research design. Both of their projects were large-scale European consortia (SUPERB alone involves dozens of partners across the continent), meaning they are accustomed to working within complex multi-actor partnerships. Their value to a consortium is not technical research output but access to forest managers, woodland owners, and regional forestry networks — making them a dissemination and co-creation asset.

Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 55 unique consortium partners across 23 countries — an unusually broad network for such limited participation, reflecting the large pan-European consortia they joined. Their geographic reach extends well beyond France, though their operational base in Nouvelle-Aquitaine likely anchors their strongest practical connections.

What sets them apart

Alliance Forêts Bois occupies a rare position as a French forestry sector body with hands-on connections to forest owners and managers in one of Europe's most significant planted forest regions, while simultaneously embedded in major EU research consortia on forest health and restoration. For a consortium building a project that must demonstrate real-world uptake — not just academic output — they offer genuine access to the practitioners who will implement findings on the ground. Their combination of regional forest sector roots and European research network experience makes them a credible bridge between science and silvicultural practice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SUPERB
  Their largest and most recent project (EUR 350,656; 2021–2025) directly addresses EU-priority forest ecosystem restoration at scale, covering biodiversity, resilience, and close-to-nature management — placing them at the center of Europe's post-2020 biodiversity agenda.
• HOMED
  An early entry into EU research (2018) on invasive forest pests and diseases — a high-relevance topic given the growing threat of climate-driven pest range expansion across European forests.