RTE's actions and agreements with stakeholders aiming at promoting biodiversity in forest channels

摘要

Approximately 20% of overhead lines in the French electricity transmission system are located in woodland areas. In order to ensure the maintenance of these lines and to keep sufficient safety distances between the lines and the vegetation, channels through forests are cleared at a width depending on the line voltage. It is recognised that this clearing of the forest can be beneficial in the development of biodiversity. Since the signature of the Convention for Biological Diversity in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio, the preservation of biodiversity has become a more and more important issue for society. The "Grenelle de l'Environnement" (Environment Round Table) organised in France at the end of 2007 illustrates this growing preoccupation. The French transmission system operator wishes to be proactive in the preservation of natural environments and biodiversity. Since 2008, it has been a part of its strategy, as the first key principle of its Environmental Policy. The preservation of biodiversity concerns both new constructions and the operation of existing power transmission installations in this policy. To improve its knowledge and its management of biodiversity in forest channels, the transmission system operator has implemented various partnerships. Experiments in forests channels management have been carried out with biodiversity experts, the National Forests Office, hunters, etc., in order to identify good practices. These good practices mainly consisted in giving value to the channels cleared through the forest by planting trees which promote wildlife habitats and by planting areas of cover and areas for feeding. All of them took the operating and safety constraints imposed by the lines into account (need for access, safety distance, maintenance periods, working methods for example when painting pylons, etc.). The good practices identified include the followings: - The natural maintenance of forest channels using pastoralism; - The use of forest channels as sanctuary and development areas for sensitive species; - The sustainable development of forest channels through the preservation of small size species and woodland screens. Besides improving the preservation of biodiversity, the implementation of such good practices at a larger scale makes possible the improvement of the French transmission system operator's relations with stakeholders. The national partnership convention signed in 2008 with the National Hunting Federation made it clear. For all the above mentioned reasons, these specific management methods of forest channels are an integral part of the French transmission system operator's move towards sustainable development. More widely, forest channels represent an opportunity in the setting up in France of green belts, the ecological corridors which are under construction as one of results of the Grenelle Round Table and which represent today a central element in the French strategy for biodiversity.