Aménagement forestier et enjeux scientifiques en France de 1820 à 1940
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Abstract EN:
FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS, FOREST PLANNING HAS IMPLEMENTED PLANNING PRACTICES BASED ON A METHOD OF TEACHING MARKED BY ITS SCIENTIFIC CONTENT, NAMELY FOREST Science OR SILVICULTURE. FROM AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, THE HISTORY OF THE FORESTRY BODY AND FRENCH FOREST SCIENCE IS FAR FROM LINEAR AND ACCUMULATIVE. ON THE CONTRARY, THERE ARE NUMEROUS INTERRUPTIONS LINKED DIRECTLY TO THE VERY HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY. ALBEIT FOUNDED UNDER THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE FRENCH FORESTRY BODY ONLY REALLY GOT OFF THE GROUND WITH THE OPENING OF THE FORESTRY SCHOOL IN NANCY IN DECEMBER 1824; THOUGH STRONGLY CRITICISED FROM ALL ANGLES DURING ITS FIRST SIXTY YEARS OF EXISTENCE, ITS PRESERVATION WAS DUE TO THE PERSISTENCE OF A STRONG SENSE OF "ESPIRIT DE CORPS" WITHIN ITS BOSOM. THIS DISCIPLINARY CONDITIONING IS BASED ON THE STRICT PRACTICE OF A CERTAIN NUMBER OF VALUES AND RITUALS, AS WELL AS ON AN OFFICIAL HISTORY WHICH TIME AND TIME AGAIN WITTINGLY ERADICATES OR OMITS ALL EVENTS CONTRARY TO THESE VERY VALUES "REBEL" FORESTERS AND THE MOVEMENTS OPPOSING OFFICIAL PLANNING THINKING, THE INFLUENCE OF GERMAN THEORY ON FRENCH SILVICULTURE, HUMILIATING COLONIAL EPISODES, ETC, SIMILARLY THIS SAME DISCONTINUITY CAN BE SEEN IN THE TEACHING AND CONSTITUTION OF FRENCH SILVICULTURE; THE GREAT MASTERS WHO FOUND INSPIRATION IN THE PRINCIPLES OF GERMAN FORESTRY WERE SUCCEEDED BY GOOD TEACHERS WHO WERE INCREASINGLY CRITICAL OF PAST TEACHINGS AND OPEN TO THE NEW IDEAS RESULTING FROM THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL SCIENCE AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH/19 TH CENTURY. THUS BY ITS RICH HISTORY, BOTH PAST AND PRESENT PLANNING CONSTITUTE A TREMENDOUS LABORATORY OF MODERN PLANNING THOUGHT, THE GREAT CHALLENGES OF MODERN PLANNING HAVING BEEN RAISED THERE SINCE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY; WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF FORESTRY ONE ENCOUNTERS SUCH IMPORTANT NOTIONS AS LONG TERM MANAGEMENT, THE ADJUSTMENT MADE FOR UNCERTAINTY, THE PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTIVITY AND FURTHERMORE AN ENVIRONMENT OF LITTLE-KNOWN PROPERTIES WHICH CAN BE STRAIGHTFORWARDLY TRANSFORMED BY PLANNING ACTION. LIKEWISE, THE STUDY OF FOREST PLANNING SHEDS LIGHT UPON NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY KNOWLEDGE OF THE FRENCH SCIENTIFIC WORLD
Abstract FR:
Depuis plus de 200 ans , l'amenagement forestier met en oeuvre des pratiques amenagistes basees sur un enseignement presente comme possedant un fort contenu scientifique, a savoir la science forestiere ou sylviculture. D'un point de vue epistemologique, l'histoire du corps forestier et de la science forestiere francaise est loin d'etre lineaire et cumulative. Elle comporte au contraire de tres nombreuses cassures qui sont directement liees a l'histoire propre du pays. Bien que fonde sous la revolution, le corps forestier francais ne sera veritablement lance qu'apres la creation de l'ecole forestiere de nancy en decembre 1824: fortement critique de toutes parts durant les 60 premieres annees de son existence, il ne devra son maintien qu'a la persistence en son sein d'un fort esprit de corps. Ce conditionnement disciplinaire repose sur la culture d'un certaine nombre de valeurs et de rites, ainsi que sur la reproduction d'une histoire officielle qui gomme ou oublie sicemment tous les evenements contraires a ces memes valeurs: les forestiers "rebelles" et les mouvements de contestation de la pensee amenagiste officielle, l'influence des theories allemandes sur la sylviculture francaise, les episodes coloniaux peu glorieux, etc. En parallele, cette meme discontinuite apparait dans l'enseignement et la constitution de la sylviculture francaise: aux grands maitres plus "technicistes" que naturalistes et fortement impregnes des preceptes de culture forestiere allemande, ont succede des professeurs de qualite, de plus en plus critiques envers l'enseignement passe et ouverts aux nouvelles notions apparues avec l'evolution rapide des sciences naturelles a la fin du xixe siecle. Par son histoire des plus riches, l'amenagement forestier, passe ou present, constitue ainsi un formidable laboratoire de la pensee amenagiste, les grands defis de l'amenagement moderne y etant souleves des le xixe siecle; on retrouve dans le domaine forestier des notions aussi importantes que la gestion a long terme, la prise en compte de l'incertitude, la recherche d'un rendement soutenu, avec de plus un milieu presentant des proprietes mal connues et directement modifiables par l'action amenagiste. De meme, son etude vient eclairer la connaissance du monde scientifique francais du xixe, et de la premiere moitie du xxe siecle.