In France and Luxembourg

Locally, in partnership with the National Forestry Office (ONF), we have been replanting trees in ecologically fragile areas near our terminals. VIIA finances these operations and thereby contributes to absorbing the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) present in the atmosphere today.

Why plant trees? The annual carbon absorption capacity of French forests is estimated at 70 million tonnes of CO2, or 15% of French stored greenhouse gas emissions: each m3 of forest absorbs 1 tonne of CO2.

Forest ecosystems capture and recycle carbon and play a major ecological role in the planet’s equilibrium.

VIIA has chosen to participate in reforestation activities in the following areas:

  • In Boulogne-sur-Mer, near Calais, 7 hectares of forest will be planted, or 7,800 trees,
  • In Saint Vital, 12 km from Aiton, one hectare or 650 trees will be planted,
  • In the Fanges Forest, 80 km from Le Boulou, one hectare or 1,600 trees will be planted,
  • In Fosses-Reposes, 15 km from Levallois-Perret, one hectare or 1,800 trees will be planted.

Part of VIIA’s activities being based in Luxembourg and in the logic of preserving local territories, the rail motorway company has signed a partnership with the Fondation Hëllef fir d’Natur. The objective of this partnership is to launch reforestation actions on a slope of the Our Valley in the Dasbourg-Pont Forest in Luxembourg. In 2019, the participation consists of planting one hectare with 533 trees (elm, maple, ash, lime and beech).