Deforestation is completed in Tarn on the A 69 route between Castres and Toulouse. Atosca, the concessionaire, cut 13 ha of forested areas and announced that it will replant 71 ha of forest areas and create 27 ha of senescence islands, forests that will be voluntarily abandoned to the spontaneous evolution of nature.
Deforestation is completed in Tarn on route A 69, the motorway under construction between Castres and Toulouse. The last tree was cut on Monday, September 9, on the former Cal'arbre ZAD in Saïx. In total, there are 13 ha of more or less wooded areas, with mostly isolated bushes and groves, which had to be cut by the concessionaire along the route, including 5 ha of dense forest.
“We strictly applied the environmental permit,” insists Atosca director Martial Gerlinger, responding to opponents who claim these cuts were illegal, even though they were carried out during authorized periods that ran from September 1 to “mid-November “. .
Read also:
A69 motorway: the last tree linked to the A69 construction site in Tarn has been cut down
He also explained the measures which had been taken to respect especially the presence of the Greater Capricorn, or other insects, in certain trees. “The authorization provides for very fine work. It provides for two things. Either the visit of an ecologist that allows us to know what is the best technique to use according to the situations, that's what we did on the essentials of the trees.” But at Cal'arbre, given the tension with the Zadis, the environmentalists could not go after Atosca. “So we used the other, more conservative method, soft pruning. I cut the trees into pieces and placed them on the ground in a silky manner. Then these branches were placed in the neighboring forests, so that Capricorn could continue to develop and migrate to existing forests”, explains Martial Gerlinger who recalls that Atosca has committed to create 71 ha of replanting forest areas of -along the highway to compensate for the cuts.
27 ha of existing forest will be protected
And above all, Atosca created islands of senescence by acquiring 27 ha of existing forest a few hundred meters from the highway, today exploited by owners with regular cutting. Lots that will be “out of all logging” for the entire duration of the concession contract, i.e. 55 years, or even longer, as these islands will be integrated into the highway public domain.
“These forests will return to a completely natural evolution without any human intervention. The idea is really to have a site as undisturbed as possible, letting nature do its work. This will allow biodiversity to develop, explains Guillaume, assistant manager of environmental project for Atosca And the stocks of cut logs on the site are placed near these islands so that when they hatch, the insects that come out can recolonize suitable environments to bring specialists who will monitor the evolution of all these islands.
Precautions have also been taken regarding the scaled clover present in certain areas of the site. “These areas have been demarcated. Some were destroyed by the zadis, and I put the markings in place to avoid these areas. And for those that are on the highway route, we will transplant them to other ideal areas along the road. highway” assures Martial Gerlinger.
Contacted by us, the lawyer for several opposing groups did not respond.