The forestry company SylGéCo, based in Castets, scans the forest using a drone. It is the first in the Landes to have invested in this equipment, capable of mapping and transmitting decisive information on the health of each species. Next mission: west of Landiras (Gironde) to fly over the burned plots to assess the state of the forest.
Seventeen calls in less than an hour! Time for an interview and the voicemail of Julien Goullier-Lagadec, creator of SylGéCo, explodes. The notoriety of the young company, founded in 2016, no longer seems to be done. “In September, all the owners want to take stock of their plots, especially since with the drought and the summer fires, everyone is worried about the future”, specifies the entrepreneur pressed by the magnitude of the work that awaits him. He has to juggle between his roles as a silviculturist, technical referent for Le Liège Gascon (an association to revive the cork oak sector), legal expert in forestry at the Pau Court of Appeal and observer correspondent for the health department. Department of Agriculture (monitoring and diagnosis system for the forest).
In a few days, he will be in Guillos near Landiras to fly over the burnt Gironde plots and determine whether or not the pines have a future. A technical mission made possible thanks to the intervention of its drone equipped with a camera and infrared sensors. The tool provides the necessary decision support elements by examining the heart of the tree to find out whether it should be cut or kept. “It’s a bit like doing an MRI of the tree. It may look green and healthy on the outside, while its vegetation index is not good, says the entrepreneur. The Landiras fire is fixed but no trees have been cut. We have to be careful and help owners make the right decisions. »
ACCOMPANY OWNERS
Digital technologies that make it possible to refine diagnoses, but also to map plots in detail and inventory the forest. “The forester can analyze the evolution of species over the long term and adapt his practices. In one day, a drone explores 40 to 60 hectares and provides important health data, while on foot we cover one hectare without being able to certify the chlorophyll activity of the tree. »
A HERITAGE TO PRESERVE
This passion for the forest, he holds it from his childhood in Burgundy when he left to cut wood with his father during the affouage, a practice authorized in this territory by the Forest Code which allows a municipality to reserve part of the woods of its forest for the domestic use of the inhabitants. After his studies as an engineer in land use planning and his first experiences in the Vercors and at Safer (Society for land development and rural establishment), he joined the Landes Chamber of Agriculture as a forestry advisor in 2009, and joined, in 2015, the forestry company Gérard Napias, in Lit-et-Mixe. But this lover of wide open spaces has his head full of projects. He then founded SylGéCo, with the ambition of improving the forest population in maritime pines, cork oaks or species of experimental culture such as eucalyptus. The company is expanding in 2020 with the arrival of a telepilot geographer, Marion Prévitali. Supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the Landes Department and the France Bois Forêt sector interprofessional organization, the company obtained the Xylofutur label in 2021, which aims to promote innovative management methods. At the bedside of the forests, its ambition remains unchanged: to protect and pass on this precious heritage to future generations.
