Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence department of France, July 2023
Pierre, a farmer growing ancient wheats in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region, is increasingly affected by extreme weather events like drought and storms on his land. To improve the fertility of his soil and boost biodiversity, he wants to reintroduce 1,440 trees of 25 different species to his plots of land.
Pierre planted trees on his plots from the beginning of 2022 up to February 2023. To date, he has completed 1/3 of the planting, which will continue next winter, 2023/2024. The planting Pierre over the winter of 2022/2023 is suffering because of the historic drought of 2022, which is set to become the norm in the years to come in this particularly dry area. In addition to the drought, 2022 was also a record-breaking hot year. In extreme heat and dry weather, plantations cannot develop in their early stages without water.
In 2023, Pierre is actively working on his irrigation system to ensure the trees planted are drought resistant. So the project challenge is to adapt the species planted to climate change. For example, cherry and corm trees are resisting well and should manage to get through the coming summer. The watering system should be fully operational by the beginning of July, and so help the other species survive the summer.
Pierre plans to wait until after heavy rainfall next winter before planting the remainder of his trees.
Pierre is preparing to apply a lot of mulch to the trees to help them get through the first three years after planting – the most risky time for survival and development of trees. The mulch keeps water in the soil and prevents spontaneous vegetation from competing with the newly installed trees.
After that, the trees will be self-sufficient and there will be no need for watering. Pierre is also well aware of the crucial importance of working the soil to loosen it and give tree roots a chance to explore the depths.
In terms of crops, Pierre is trying to keep going. His ancient wheat yields are extremely low this year, but he is managing to harvest all the same. The other farmers in his group – involved in agroecology and located in the Mediterranean arc (from Nice to Valencia, Corsica, Sardinia and Balearic Islands) – find themselves in the same situation.
Pierre has also bought an adjoining plot of land on which he hopes to realise his dream. It’s a project ten years in the making… we’ll tell you all about it in the next article 😉
