2023-11-26 10:53:17
Arthur, a reader from Hainaut, asks us this question via the Sudinfo Alert Us button. He wonders if he isn’t a little on the wrong side. “There is a public forest near my house that can be easily accessed with a trailer. With the current price of a cubic meter of wood, I go there from time to time to cut up dead branches or tree trunks lying on the ground. Do I risk anything if I come across a guard,” he writes to us, specifying that his chainsaw makes very little noise, which allows him to be discreet.
From 100 to 2,000 € fine
“All the forests in Wallonia belong to someone, whether it is a public body or a private owner. You cannot take wood there without authorization. Otherwise, it’s theft,” reacts Michel Baillij, director of forest resources at the DNF. The fine and immediate collection is 100 euros if a forestry agent came across our Arthur drive in the middle of sawing. The amount of the fine can rise up to €2,000 depending on the seriousness of the offense: quantity of wood recovered, repeat offense, etc.
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If the person refuses to pay, the file is sent to the public prosecutor’s office who can decide to take it back or send it back to the administration. If the second option is chosen, the sanctioning official then demands €200 from the offender. The DNF does not have statistics on the theft of dead wood in the forest. The Department cannot therefore tell us whether this form of gleaning is on the rise because of higher prices per cubic meter due to the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine. The DNF only counts illegal felling of living trees. For the period 2019-2023, there have been only 22 cases.
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