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We conducted a study in a cross-border region of Amazonia to analyze the future role of natural forests in producing wood products. French Guiana and the state of Amapa are sharing similar geographical properties. A predominant area of these two territories are dominated by undisturbed tropical forests. In both regions, over 70% of forest areas is under public ownership. Currently the forestry sector in both regions do not have a key role in local economies, with low legal wood production in French Guiana (75 000 m3) as well as in Amapa (around 120 000 m3). Although in Amapá there is a high level of illegality in the sector (85%). In French Guiana and Amapa, forestry activities might represent an economical opportunity to promote endogenous development. The forest sector, including private and public actors, will face strategic choices to respond to increasing demand in wood supply for the coming decades. Strategic choices, based on strong political decisions, include the volume of wood to be produced locally, type of actors involved (i.e. communities, private companies), type of production (timber vs fuelwood) and origin of wood (plantation vs natural forest). Based on a prospective approach, we identified various scenarios, for each region, to reach the wood supply by 2045. First, we interviewed key actors of the forestry sector to obtain the view from their perspective. Second we selected the key variables to construct the scenarios and validated the resulting scenarios through a discussion with all actors. The scenarios identified in French Guiana had the implementation of tree plantation with local species as alternative to natural forest management, while in Amapa they focused on forest management associated with public policy and social factors. These scenarios are providing a framework of discussions that could help actors to focus on long term and to imagine the likely impact of current policy choices on the socioeconomy and conservation of natural forests.

International audience; Tanto Brasil como Francia tienen gran parte de su territorio en el bosque amazónico. La Amazonia brasileña tiene una superficie legal de 5,217,423 km2 (es decir alrededor del 60 % de su territorio, siendo 40 % del territorio brasileño parte del bioma amazónico) mientras que la Guayana francesa, la región más grande de Francia, cuenta con una superficie de 83,846 km2 (lo que equivale a aproximadamente el 12 % del territorio francés, incluyendo en éste la superficie de los llamados departamentos de ultramar). Estos dos países se enfrentan a presiones internacionales sobre su capacidad respectiva de preservar los ecosiste-mas amazónicos: Brasil se considera el principal responsable de un pa-trimonio mundial inestimable que es necesario preservar (Léna, 1999), mientras que Francia, como país europeo, anuncia la implementación de una gestión medioambiental ejemplar del bosque tropical en su territo-rio (Groupe national sur les forêts tropicales, 2012). [Introduction]

International audience; In French Guiana, the forest sector (including private and public actors) will face strategic choices to respond to the increasing demand in wood supply for the coming decades. Indeed population in French Guiana is currently growing at a rate of around 2.5% per year and should exceed 500 000 inhabitants by 2050 leading to an increased consumption of material, energy and space. Tropical humid forests that cover 90% of the territory will be at the center of production and conservation concerns. Strategic choices, based on strong political decisions, include the volume of wood to be produced locally, the type of production (timber vs fuelwood) and the origin (plantation vs natural forest). We conducted a work to analyze the opportunities of the forestry sector to meet these challenges. All wood supply is currently provided through the management of natural forests. An alternative issue would be to produce wood from forest plantation. Experimental tree plantations have been developed since the 70's in French Guiana. More than 30 local species and 26 exotic species have been tested to evaluate their potential in tree plantation. Up to now no plantation were established at lager scale in French Guiana. We identified various scenarios to reach the wood supply by 2050. The scenarios were elaborated in two phases. First, we interviewed key actors of the forestry sector who gave their view on that perspective. It appeared that tree plantation is considered as a real opportunity for most of the actors. Second, species performance in tree plantation trials was carefully analyzed through mortality rates and tree productivity. Six species (four locals and two exotics) were identified with a high potential for sustainable forest plantation. Sustainability of natural forest management was also assessed based on the results provided by the Paracou experimental plot. Four main scenarios were identified. Wood production is calculated for both managed forests and forest plantation and duration of each production cycle is provided. For each scenario, surface dedicated for natural forest management and tree plantation is estimated. Results are discussed in the light of the sparing and sharing strategies. The four scenarios are providing a framework of discussions that could help the actors to focus on the long term and to imagine the likely impacts of current policy choices on conservation of natural forests.

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In French Guiana, the forest sector (including private and public actors) will face strategic choices to respond to the increasing demand in wood supply for the coming decades. Indeed population in French Guiana is currently growing at a rate of around 2.5% per year and should exceed 500 000 inhabitants by 2050 leading to an increased consumption of material, energy and space. Tropical humid forests that cover 90% of the territory will be at the center of production and conservation concerns. Strategic choices, based on strong political decisions, include the volume of wood to be produced locally, the type of production (timber vs fuelwood) and the origin (plantation vs natural forest). We conducted a work to analyze the opportunities of the forestry sector to meet these challenges. All wood supply is currently provided through the management of natural forests. An alternative issue would be to produce wood from forest plantation. Experimental tree plantations have been developed since the 70's in French Guiana. More than 30 local species and 26 exotic species have been tested to evaluate their potential in tree plantation. Up to now no plantation were established at lager scale in French Guiana. We identified various scenarios to reach the wood supply by 2050. The scenarios were elaborated in two phases. First, we interviewed key actors of the forestry sector who gave their view on that perspective. It appeared that tree plantation is considered as a real opportunity for most of the actors. Second, species performance in tree plantation trials was carefully analyzed through mortality rates and tree productivity. Six species (four locals and two exotics) were identified with a high potential for sustainable forest plantation. Sustainability of natural forest management was also assessed based on the results provided by the Paracou experimental plot. Four main scenarios were identified. Wood production is calculated for both managed forests and forest plantation and duration of each production cycle is provided. For each scenario, surface dedicated for natural forest management and tree plantation is estimated. Results are discussed in the light of the sparing and sharing strategies. The four scenarios are providing a framework of discussions that could help the actors to focus on the long term and to imagine the likely impacts of current policy choices on conservation of natural forests.

The seasonal climate drivers of the carbon cycle in tropical forests remain poorly known, although these forests account for more carbon assimilation and storage than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Based on a unique combination of seasonal pan-tropical data sets from 89 experimental sites (68 include aboveground wood productivity measurements and 35 litter productivity measurements), their associate canopy photosynthetic capacity (enhanced vegetation index, EVI) and climate, we ask how carbon assimilation and aboveground allocation are related to climate seasonality in tropical forests and how they interact in the seasonal carbon cycle. We found that canopy photosynthetic capacity seasonality responds positively to precipitation when rainfall is < 2000 mm per year (water-limited forests) and to radiation otherwise (light-limited forests); on the other hand, independent of climate limitations, wood productivity and litterfall are driven by seasonal variation in precipitation and evapotranspiration respectively. Consequently, lightlimited forests present an asynchronism between canopy photosynthetic capacity and wood productivity. Precipitation first-order control indicates an overall decrease in tropical forest productivity in a drier climate. (Texte intégral)