Hugh SchofieldBBC Burgundy News
British Broadcasting CorporationThe ecological ethics of Christmas trees is a topic of concern to many people in the Morvan Nature Park.
These remote Burgundy Highlands produce more than a million young fir trees for the market each year, making the region the largest producer in France.
But for every local rejoicing in the money and jobs their Christmas trees create, there’s another bemoaning their impact on the natural environment.
As elsewhere, only a small percentage of Christmas tree plantations are organic.
The vast majority of applications rely on chemical treatments.
If efforts were indeed being made to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides, no one would seriously question their negative impacts.
“Christmas tree production may have an impact on water resources due to the use of chemical herbicides,” the park’s website reads.
“That’s why we are taking action to minimize the impact of this activity and make it compatible with high-quality water.”
According to activists, recognition by the authorities is only the most important point.
Muriel Andr, a local farmer and activist, took us to visit what she described as a typical small-scale plantation on a hillside near her home.
A field once used as pasture now contains approximately 20,000 saplings, planted by an absentee farmer from a neighboring department or county.
There was grass and weeds growing around the perimeter, but there was nothing under the small trees – just dirt and some dead vegetation.
“That’s from herbicides, which they spray to suppress any plants that might compete with the trees,” she said.
“There are also insecticides for insects and fungicides for parasites. This monoculture kills biodiversity and leach chemicals into our rivers.”
“I have nothing against Christmas trees. I have my own fond memories of decorating Christmas trees as a child,” Ms. Ander said.
“But times have changed. We are going through an ecological transition. Everything that pollutes must stop.
“People in cities are fooled by marketing that tells them Christmas trees are ‘natural’ – as if they all come from some magical forest. The truth is, it’s a form of intensive farming.”
Environmentalists aren’t the only ones questioning the ethics of Christmas trees.
French consumers are also increasingly curious about the provenance of their Nordmanns and Epiceas.
Is it responsible, they ask, to quickly dispose of millions of saplings only to be chopped down and kept in living rooms for about two weeks?
In interviews with passers-by near a tree supplier in central Paris, everyone we asked said the environment was now an important factor in their choice of whether to plant trees. Sabine de Noir.
Some said they had stopped buying altogether. For others, it’s a dilemma. While recognizing the environmental impact of plantations, they wonder whether importing plastic trees from China is actually a better option.
Few people have considered “green” alternatives such as wooden tree sculptures or homemade components.
According to Morvan’s producers, buyers are definitely becoming more curious about the origins of their trees. But so far this has had only a marginal impact on sales.
The Naudet company in Planchez, which has been growing Christmas trees since 1956, admits that little attention was paid to herbicides in the past. But that has changed, they say.
“All the criticism we receive is based on complete ignorance of what we are doing today,” Director General Martin Nordet said.
“We are making huge efforts to minimize the use of chemicals and today you can see rich biodiversity in our plantations.”
In a nearby plantation we saw rows of trees and the grass there looked really lush. In another field, they are experimenting with sowing buckwheat (saracin) between the rows, which acts as a natural weed suppressor.
Martin Naudet pointed out that only 1% of the available agricultural land in the Morvan region is used to grow Christmas trees. Among the vast expanse of hills and forests, plantations are only a small part of the landscape.
But the fact remains that almost all Christmas trees are produced without the use of chemicals. “People tried it,” Martinodette said. “But the trees weren’t selling. They were too expensive and they didn’t look right.”
In other words, our Christmas evergreen trees aren’t really that “green” at all.
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Image Source : www.bbc.com