The ForDiL team - Interview with Grégory Timal
The project
The Société Royale Forestière de Belgique (SRFB), in partnership with the Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU, Czech Republic), the Institut Genech (UFA, France), the Institut Technique Horticole de Gembloux (ITH, Belgium) and the Centre de Développement Agroforestier de Chimay (CDAF, Belgium), has launched a new Erasmus+ project called ‘ForDiL’ for ‘forest digital learning’. The main aim of this project is to promote learning about the continuous cover forestry approach (CCF) using digital tools. Find out more
We invite you to discover the faces behind this project. Today, we meet Grégory Timal from the Centre de Développement Agroforestier de Chimay.
Who are you?
- Gregory Timal – Forestry engineer (UCLouvain), Director of Centre de Développement Agroforestier de Chimay (CDAF)
- 49 years old, French by birth and Belgian by adoption, a dedicated expert in forestry management advice and knowledge sharing.
Personal background
Grégory is a forestry engineer who graduated from the University of Louvain in 2000. He began his professional career in France as part of his military service, preparing files on the cleaning and replanting of forests devastated by the historic storms of the last century. He then worked for some time in a forestry cooperative before joining the CDAF team as a project manager. For more than 20 years, he has been working on scientific research projects in forestry: cathedral beech forest sylviculture, typology of white clay soils, regeneration of oak forests, regeneration strategy in Soignes Forest, management of mixed stands and, recently, technical soil preparation for renewal. He also provides technical training in forestry for workers and technicians. In 2014, he launched his forestry management and consultancy business alongside his other roles. He took over the management position of the CDAF in 2023.
About the CDAF
The CDAF was created in 1986, on the initiative of a professors from the University of Louvain and representatives of the town of Chimay. Its initial missions were aimed at providing a support service to the municipality of Chimay and its inhabitants.
From now on, the aim of the non-profit organisation is to promote the responsible and sustainable development of trees in forests and fields. They are divided into 3 areas: i) improving the biodiversity and resilience of forests, agricultural and natural environments and strengthening ecosystem services; ii) supporting public consultation on the economic, social and environmental issues of the ‘forest-wood’ sector; iii) mobilising best practices in forestry and agroforestry systems and providing advice to farmers, owners and managers of public or private forests.
The missions of the CDAF act as the interface between scientific research and forestry and agroforestry management.
CDAF key figures
The CDAF at the interface of scientific research and sustainable forestry and agroforestry management:
- applied forestry research projects for the Walloon region, in partnership with UCLouvain
- GAL, TRANSGAL and INTERREG research and development projects in the field of sustainable forestry and agroforestry management
- a long-standing partnership with Brussels Environment for forest strategic management and silviculture projects and the training of forestry workers
- awareness-raising projects in schools in the Hainaut boot with the support of the Chimay Wartoise Foundation
- various consultancy projects in silviculture and sustainable forest management
- a network of experimental plots and demonstrations for groups of students (visits and training)
Learn more on https://www.cdaf.be/
How do you see the forest of the future?
The future forest will inevitably be marked by climate change, the effects of which on the composition of the current stands may well disrupt certain silvicultural practices.
From my point of view, the reactivity of foresters to these challenges will present them with two alternatives: either not to question themselves and undergo the change (management of calamities and decline) or to anticipate it and manage it actively (increasing the diversity and resilience of stands). In any case, the level of knowledge required in terms of forest management (whether imposed or managed) will necessarily become more important and complex than before, at least if the managers are committed to preserving the multifunctionality of forests. It is already clear that the management of an irregular mixed high forest is much more complex than monitoring the treatment of a single-species even-aged spruce forest. The risk is not the same either.
The development of continuous cover mixed forestry (CCFM) depends on the continuous improvement of knowledge and practices. In this context, the role of forestry research and development and extension organisations is fundamental. They must respond to the complexity by offering tools capable of mobilising practitioners. The ForDil project was designed with this in mind.
What is your role in the ForDiL project?
The CDAF is involved in the project in various tasks contributing to the development of the application, including : characterisation and identification of potential sites for a marteloscope & travailloscope; determination of technical protocols and development of databases; modelling of the operation of the application and associated databases; technical support for development and field testing.
A final word
Proposing suitable tools to meet the complex challenges of the forest of the future.
