Porada’s commitment to environmental sustainability has continued as it replants company-owned forest in Burgundy.
Since 2011, Porada has pursued a strategy of investment in the French land to guarantee a sustainable and certified supply of ash wood for the production of its furniture. This ensures supervision of the wood management and procurement phases, while reducing the environmental impact of purchasing raw materials from external suppliers.
Over the years, the forest’s surface area has increased to 260-hectares (just over a square mile) located in several municipalities of Burgundy: Vitry Lache, St-Aubin des Chaumes, Devay, Thaix and Remille, in the Nièvre department.
For Porada, the forest is not only an area destined for timber production, but also an ecosystem to be preserved in compliance with the laws and regulations set by the French government, which include biodiversity monitoring (the forests do not only contain ash trees, but also oak and cherry trees, among others), soil protection, and water conservation. All these regulations aim to protect the national environmental heritage.
The latest investment saw 10-hectares replanted with 8,000 plants. The new young trees will be closely monitored during their development, and only about 600 trees per hectare are expected to reach full maturity to ensure proper growth and high wood quality in the long term.
This first replanting phase will be followed by new ones over the next few years with the aim of constantly supporting the wellbeing of the Porada Forest.
‘Neither I nor the next Porada generation will ever see the full maturity of these new plants,’ says Tiziano Allievi, Porada md. ‘It is our legacy to future generations, who will thus know that our thoughts today are also with them.’
