COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

Fig. 1: Provenances regions in Belgium (VANDER MIJNSBRUGGE et al. 2004 2 , ORVERT 2008 3 )
20 m².ha-1 . Natural regeneration, revealed by the presence of seedling, thickets or saplings, is
observed in 44% of the beech forest area. More than four out of five regenerated trees are beech.
There is a contrast in the regeneration, depending on the altitude: under 450 m, the distribution
of stem circumferences indicates a multi-storied high forest, while over 450 m there is a clear lack
of regeneration (IPRFW 2000) 1 . Even in the case of natural regeneration which was commonly
used for regeneration, artificial plantations have become more and more frequent since the 1980s.
Reproductive material used mainly comes from Walloon Region. There are five selected seed stands
in the region.
Plantation establishment and some crop development works of beech (as well as other species) are
encouraged by economic initiatives of the Walloon Region (DGRNE 199 ) 4 .
Flemish region
As beech is mostly found together with oak in mixed stands, pure beech stands cover only 4,250 ha.
The average volume and basal area amount to 480 m³.ha-1 and 33 m².ha-1 respectively.
The main beech forest is the Forest of Soignes (Sonian Forest, see Fig. 3), located near Brussels,
covering 4,420 ha of which 56% are located in Flanders. Beech constitutes the main species and it
accounts for 80% of the basal area. The only Flemish seed stand, covering 1,453 ha, is located in this
forest.
4