Two associations of elected officials claimed this Wednesday, July 20 “strong public forest services”while gigantic fires ravage the Gironde, worrying about staff reductions in the National Forestry Office (ONF). “Events today show the need for strong public forest services”indicate the National Federation of Forest Municipalities (FNCOFOR) and the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF) in a press release.
“However, these are more and more in tension” et “nearly 500 positions at the ONF should be cut in the years to come “a reduction in the workforce deemed “unthinkable” by these elected officials.
“Faced with all these challenges”
The two associations ask “It is up to the State to assume its responsibilities and assume its role of guarantor of the preservation of our forests with a long-term investment and to grant the necessary human resources to elected officials to face all these challenges”.
The objectives and performance contract (COP) for 2021-2025 linking the State to the ONF provides for the elimination of 500 positions by the end of 2025. The ONF, half of whose employees are civil servants or contract workers of public law, manages the 11 million hectares of French public forests. The office, in deficit, and has been in turmoil for several years.
The FNCOFOR represents more than 12,000 forest owners and thousands of municipalities, according to the press release, while the AMRF brings together nearly 10,000 rural mayors.
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