Groupe Cooperation Forestiere
GCF is the first French forest wood chips producer for bioenergy and the first French group which obtained the long-term durable forest certification of its members. Their goals are to provide private forest owners with the necessary technical assistance to support long-term and durable management, to improve the forests economic competitiveness, and to act as an essential part for regional planning. Beyond providing professional forest management services, harvesting, and reforestation operations, GFC has assisted their landowners in entering the growing market for wood energy by entering into cooperatives with independant enterprises that have produced guaranteed long-term contracts for wood chips off private lands.
In 2004, GFC had 35 members in their wood energy cooperative. They marketed 5 million cubic meters of wood and produced a profit in excess of 230 million Euros, or nearly US $255 Million.
Encyclopedia ID: p1252
