Wood and Forest Festival in Anglès with Envol Vert

On August 8-9, 2026, the Wood and Forest Festival took place around the town of Anglès. Envol Vert and the GFC Les Hauts Bois celebrated it for the fifth time.
For this fifth edition, the event was structured in two parts. First on Saturday in Malbosc in the forest, then on Sunday in Anglès alongside the Local Produce Fair.

Saturday’s day began with two themed walks: one on biodiversity, with a presentation of the Natura 2000 zone Vallée de l’ARN by the Haut Languedoc Regional Nature Park, which was able to raise participants’ awareness about the species present such as pearl mussels and otters, and the threats they face. The other walk focused on forestry to present the principles of mixed continuous-cover forestry to those present.
After a friendly packed lunch, participants were able to go into the forest to attend a show by the Parmélie association. The show presented forest tales for young and old, sometimes drawing on anecdotes about forest species to promote sustainable forest management.
Finally, two creative workshops were offered in the afternoon: a forest photography workshop and a forest singing workshop; both were presented to the whole group at the end of the day.

The second day took place alongside the local produce fair around Anglès’ multipurpose room. Several stands of wood and basketry craftspeople were present, as well as a wood sculpture workshop and wooden games for the younger children. Two conferences were on the agenda: a first one on the impact of the SIAT mega-sawmill project in St Agnan, France, and the second on the local wood industry. Each conference brought together approximately fifty participants.

The first conference brought together three representatives from local collectives and associations to discuss the environmental and social impacts of the SIAT sawmill extension project in St Agnan. The conference addressed the role of citizens and collectives in fighting for the preservation of the territory and its natural resources, as well as the tools available to these collectives. The need to obtain reliable and comprehensive expertise on forest resources in order to assess the project’s sustainability emerged notably, as did the need to mobilize more citizens through communication campaigns. The conference concluded with a 45-minute discussion with the audience about the project’s next steps and possible ways to get involved.

The second conference featured 4 actors from the local and artisanal wood industry: Raphaël Bonneau, sawyer; Nicolas Rabot, carpenter/cabinetmaker; Sylvain Héry, carpenter, and Nicolas Maraval, forest owner who completed a wooden construction from his forest. Each speaker introduced themselves and then shared their vision of the local wood industry, the obstacles and hindrances encountered, as well as development opportunities. Several exchanges with the audience took place to clarify the work of the local wood industry, and notably to connect with residents of the territory. A presentation by Nicolas Maraval also made it possible to concretely demonstrate the stages, costs, and duration of a local wood construction project. The goal of the conference was to promote the local wood industry, one of the SEVE project’s goals, particularly as a local branch of the Network for Forest Alternatives (RAF), which is in the process of creating new mapping to identify local wood industry craftspeople throughout the territory.