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"Eco-interdependent" woods
In French Guyana, sixty thousand cubic metres of exceptional woods, in view of their natural durability, are exploited each year. Natural durability is the intrinsic resistance to biodegradation, and this property results from the presence of natural antifungal or termiticide substances synthesised by the plant for its own protection. In the natural environment, these compounds allow species with high life expectancy to last sometimes for hundreds of years in tropical rainforest.
In order to optimize the usability of forest plots, a team of chemists based in Cayenne (French Guyana), in partnership with a logging company, is studying the possibilities of recycling sawmill waste and products associated with logging. For example, it was shown that extracts of Bagassa guianensis (bagasse), Tabebuia serratifolia (green ebony), Qualea rosea (gonfolo) and Sextonia rubra (red louro) are highly fungicidal or termiticidal, and durability transfer tests have allowed these extracts to be qualified as natural active principles for the preservation of non durable woods (pine, beech, etc.). These extracts are barely toxic to the environment and could eventually be used when toxic products based on heavy metals become prohibited.
Unité « Écologie des forêts de Guyane », CNRS-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane-CIRAD-Inra-AgroParisTech
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