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Extra income : cattle grazing, ”pannage' (mast). Coppice with standards : wide ... Corporal punishments (strokes, mutilation, up to death penalty). Coppice (with ...
500 years of coppice-withstandards management in Flanders (Belgium) : the case of Meerdaal Forest

- Coppice (with standards) was the standard -Meerdaal forest : a ‘free’-wood for its owner (and the king) - Traditional management for wood production under Croÿ and Arenberg, famous foresters of their time -Restoration experiment - set-up - evaluation

Almost 1000 years of low forest cover and intensive use !

Almost 1000 years of low forest cover and intensive use ! Flanders 1100-1250 : - Topography & geology - Money : Centre of commerce - Organisation : Monasteries and feodal ownership - Manpower (pop. : > 150 / km²) “At this pace of clearings, there will soon be no forests left for hunting, heating and construction”

Forest mgmt in Flanders 13th-19th century : Mostly coppice (community and private) larger properties: noblety, abbeys, … : Coppice with standards Sonian forest: mostly high forest (beech)

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Coppice management :

Coppice management :

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Coppice with standards : wide range #

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- First mentioned in a charter by pope Urbanus III (12th century) ‘…curthem nethenes cum ecclesia et pertinentiis suis et adjacente silva de miradal…’

- 1442 : Forest was sold to Antoine de Croÿ, count of Aerschot (first knight in the order of the golden fleece) -At that time : primarily a hunting area

- sold by lords of Bierbeek to Dukes of Brabant in 1215 -E.g. : request by Maximilian of Austria (1481) for exclusive hunting rights in Meerdaal forest

-In 1406, Philip, count of Flanders, Duke of Bourgondy and Brabant declares Meerdaal forest (together with three others) to be a ‘free forest’ : -

no taxes no common rights (grazing, wood gathering…) hunting only by the owner and the king own justice (woudrecht)

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- already in the 15th century the ‘wood-court’ was installed with seperate sections for hunting and for wood injunctions -> list of Laws and Regulations

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First detailed description (regulation) of forest management : Sale conditions (1551) Coppice with standards management - First the coppice is sold : buyers should - Leave all fruit-bearing trees - Leave all standard trees from previous cuts - Leave at least 16 new young oak trees (of at least 8”) per ha, if non such are present, they can also choose beech, or other valuable species

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sale conditions (1551) Sale of the Standard trees - One year after the coppice : marked by a ‘hammer’ - Sold in small ‘sales’ of about 5-10 trees each in autumn - Only marked trees may be cut (markings must remain) - all trees must be cut close to the bole, and the pits must be filled

- All wood must be cut by may 1st, piled by may 31st and removed by 1 march of next year - The should cut brambles, thornbushes, … prune the standards - They may not remove any hay, nor plants or seeds of oaks, beech, pears, apples, misples, chestnut or hazel

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sale conditions (1551) (cont) Sale of the Standard trees - One year after the coppice : marked by a ‘hammer’ - Sold in ‘sales’ of about 5 trees in autumn - Only marked trees must be cut (markings must remain) - all trees must be cut close to the bole, and the pits must be filled - All fellings are te be finalised by april 1st and removed before april 30 - Trees may be cut up in the wood, but no carpentry is to be performed

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- 17th and 18th century : further optimised :

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-1612 : counts of Arenberg inherit the forest by marriage

-1605 : detailed mapping of the forest -1610 : subdivision in 20 ‘coupes’ : every year one coupe is cut (cutting cycle of 20 years) - coppice parcels measured in the field (size approx 3000 m²) - 40 young oak trees + fruit trees + standards must be spared

Continuously improve productivity and quality :

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From beginning of 18th century : cutting cycle of 13 years (later 14 years and 12 years) N-S oriented cutting lines of 300 m wide; moving up one line to the west every year Young trees to be spared are marked by the foresters Announcements and public sale Additional planting of trees (by buyer or foresters) from small nurseries in the forest

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-1612 : counts of Arenberg inherit the forest by marriage Continuously improve productivity and quality : From beginning of 18th century : cutting cycle of 13 years (later 14 years and 12 years) N-S oriented cutting lines of 300 m wide; moving up one line to the west every year Young trees to be spared are marked by the foresters Announcements and public sale Additional planting of trees (by buyer or foresters) from small nurseries in the forest

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- Gradual increase of the importance of standard trees : - Sale 1691 : 30% - Sale 1780’s : 70% - Sale 1913 : 90% of the income : no longer a typical coppice with standards : before cut : ca 20 m²/ha; after : 15 m²/ha - Planting of Pine forest on sandy outcrops (> 1730) - Planting of high forest of beech (> 1850) -Last coppice cut in 1950; now managed as high forest of oak with group cuttings

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- Gradual increase of the importance of standard trees :

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Changes in species composition of standards

- Sale 1691 : 30% - Sale 1780’s : 70% - Sale 1913 : 90% of the income : no longer a typical coppice with standards : before cut : ca 20 m²/ha; after : 15 m²/ha - Planting of Pine forest on sandy outcrops (> 1730) - Planting of high forest of beech (> 1850) -Last coppice cut in 1950; now managed as high forest of oak with group cuttings

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