The forestry sector

Carte "Filière bois, spécialisation des zones d’emploi franc-comtoises en 2006" à télécharger

Naturally covered in woods and forest, whether public or private, the region boasts a broad range of essences and qualities of wood. As a result, a particularly comprehensive and dynamic wood industry has emerged in Franche-Comté.
From initial transformation to furniture and toy production, from woodturning to woodenware, all aspects of the wood trade are represented. 

The existence of this industry chiefly has its links in the wide array of wood trades rather than the geographical origin of the materials supplied. The companies in Franche-Comté also master the techniques necessary for working exotic and precious woods.
Furthermore, able to call upon advanced technology, they develop
multi-material know-how in response to market expectations.

The forest in Franche-Comté covers 44% of the regional surface area. It is the most wooded region in France and comprises large hardwood and softwood plantations in the Jura mountains, the valleys of Saône and Doubs and the Vosges foothills.

The forest covers a surface area of 700,000 hectares, 55% being public forest which is mainly communal and is managed by the ONF, and 45% being private forest.

The fields of activity are varied and specialised.

The most numerous or most important activities are:
- forestry works (silviculture, felling and hauling)
- forestry exploitation (log sales)
- sawmills
- veneer manufacturers (slicing and peeling)
- construction and all its specialised branches
- traditional and industrial carpenters
- traditional and industrial joiners
- parquet flooring manufacturers
- staircase manufacturers
- furniture, cabinetmaking and fittings
- manufacture of chipboard panels, plywood panels or special panels
- the toy industry
- turning

But there are also manufacturers of:
- beams and posts
- sleepers
- clapboards, friezes and mouldings
- shingles (shakes) and cladding
- pipes
- soffit boards
- pallets
- industrial packagings and food packagings
- coffins
- casings of grandfather clocks
- decorative panels
- dashboards and accessories for motor vehicles
- cheese boxes
- spruce strips for cheeses (A.O.C. Mont d’Or)

Key figures:
- 46%, the amount of land covered by forest in Franche-Comté
- 700,000 ha, the surface area covered by forest in the region
- 140 million m3, the volume of wood available
- 5 million m3, the biological rate of growth
- 2 to 2.5 million m3, of which 900,000 m3 softwood, the amount felled per annum excluding wood for heating purposes under the residents’ right to firewood
- 929,500 m3, of which 753,000 m3 softwood, the volume of wood sawn in Franche-Comté
- 2300, the number of companies in the wood sector
- 12,800, the number of employees in the wood sector 
- French No. 1 for woodturning  and woodenware, accounting for 90% of production
- 2nd most forested region in France
- 713,500 ha of forest
- 2nd region for production of fir-wood
- 3,200 companies,
- 10,500 employees in the wood sector
- Lycée Mouchard wood college: the only high school in France where teaching is entirely focused on wood