Study trip to Italy
The trip will be in french / english
Study trip to Italy
From 13 September to 19 September 2026 - Piémont
This year, the Royal Belgian Forestry Society invites you to explore Piedmont, an Italian region characterised by contrasting landscapes and a wide range of forestry challenges. From the poplar groves of the Po Valley to the deciduous forests on the hills, once managed as coppice, and the mountain forests that protect the valleys from landslides and avalanches, Piedmont forms a veritable forestry mosaic, rich in history and diverse management experiences.
The Piedmontese forest covers nearly one million hectares, or around 40% of the region’s territory. It is predominantly privately owned — accounting for nearly 70% of the land — and highly fragmented, with properties averaging barely one hectare in size, which makes any coordinated management extremely difficult. Long focused on firewood and food production, particularly chestnuts, the forest has expanded significantly as a result of the decline in agriculture.
As regards the timber sector, Italy imports around 80% of the timber it consumes and has only limited local timber processing capacity, with the notable exception of poplar, which benefits from a dynamic and well-structured sector. Furthermore, forestry in Piedmont has long been part of a broader approach, placing significant emphasis on ecosystem services: honey, mushrooms, truffles, firewood, protection against natural hazards, and so on. Against a backdrop of climate change and growing environmental demands, the region’s foresters are therefore focusing on the sustainability of wooded areas and on promoting the services provided by the forest, particularly through new economic tools such as carbon credits and biodiversity certificates. Our trip will provide an opportunity to explore these realities on the ground, whilst enjoying the cultural richness of Piedmont through a series of visits that will punctuate our programme.
Program
(subject to change)
We will travel together by coach from Barchon. On both the outward and return journeys, we will spend the night at the French-Italian border. The rest of the trip will be based at a hotel east of Turin, an ideal base from which to explore the region.
After a day’s journey, we will reach the Maurienne Valley and spend the night in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
We will meet with the Consorzio Forestale Alta Valle di Susa (Alta Valle di Susa Forestry Consortium), whose representatives will guide us through a high-mountain forest. They will present their fire risk management projects on the southern slopes, a recent concern following the 2017 fire that ravaged over 4,000 hectares in the lower Susa Valley.
A day dedicated to chestnut groves in the Cuneo region.
On the agenda: a visit to Silvateam, one of Italy’s leading producers of natural tannins, and a tour of the public nursery specialising in the many varieties of chestnut trees grown for fruit production.
We will be welcomed by the IPLA (Istituto per il Legno e l’Ambiente), a public institution responsible, among other things, for public forest management plans. They will provide an overview of the forestry sector in Piedmont before taking us to sites of peri-urban reforestation and truffle production in the hills around Turin.
This day will be dedicated to poplars. In Casale Monferrato, the Istituto di Pioppicoltura will present the poplar industry in Italy and its extensive collection of cultivars. Researchers will also discuss the environmental challenges associated with new regulations, as well as the development of cultivars better suited to meeting these requirements, whilst addressing the effects of climate change. We will visit several experimental plots, particularly those involving agroforestry.
We will explore the Bosco della Partecipanza, the largest lowland forest in Piedmont, which has been collectively managed since the Middle Ages according to a unique model.
In particular, we will discuss the introduction of carbon and biodiversity certificates in Italy – several of which have been generated in this forest – as well as research carried out by the University of Turin into the effects of climate change on oak trees.
The day will end with a guided tour of Susa, a village steeped in history with Roman ruins, where we will spend our final night.
We’ll be heading back to Belgium after a week packed with discoveries of the forest and local culture.
Une adaptation modérée du tarif pourrait intervenir si la hausse des carburants devait être répercutée par les prestataires de transport.
Practical information and prices
MEETING PLACE
Barchon
Organisational costs
- Tarif en chambre simple : 2 050 €
- Tarif en chambre double : 1 570 €
Registration
Registration before 30 June 2026
The trip will be in french / english
