This online ceremony gathered Antoine Petit, CEO of the CNRS, Philippe Augé, President of the Université de Montpellier, Macha Woronoff, President of the Université de Franche-Comté, and Vincent Rousson, Rector of the Université du Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) in Canada. By his presence, the Consul General of France in Quebec, Mr. Frédéric Sanchez, brought the support of the diplomatic post, which is very involved in the France – Quebec cooperation.

This is a fruitful and structured collaboration that has existed for ten years between Canada and France in the field of forest ecology and paleoenvironments of cold forests. Under the direction of Dr. Yves Bergeron, professor at the Institut de recherche sur les forêts of the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), and Dr. Adam Ali, professor at the Université de Montpellier at the ’Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier’^[1], the main objective of this project is to characterise, reconstruct and model the main ecological processes governing these ecosystems in order to propose strategies for adaptation, regulation, management and conservation in response to global changes (climatic and societal). Researchers from the Chrono-environnement lab^[2] are also involved in the project.

Thus, this IRP, involving nearly twenty researchers and professors, is in line with the “climate change” societal challenge of the CNRS Contract of Objectives and Performance with the State. Interdisciplinary in nature, this research will combine concepts and approaches related to ecology, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, dendrochronology, genetics and modeling. This work is also based on an International Research Network (IRN) extended to Sweden, Norway, Russia and China, on the same theme.

The study sites in the boreal zone are located, in addition to Quebec, in the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland and Labrador, while in the mountain zone, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Vosges and the Atlas and Rif mountains in Morocco are the target areas.

[1] UMR5554 under the tutelage of CNRS / IRD / Université de Montpellier

[2] UMR6249 under the tutelage of CNRS / Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté

Above picture, from top to bottom and left to right: Vincent Rousson, Rector of UQAT, Antoine Petit, CEO of the CNRS, Philippe Augé, President of the Université de Montpellier, Macha Woronoff, President of the Université de Franche-Comté, Frédéric Sanchez, Consul General of France in Quebec, Ahmed-Adam Ali and Yves Bergeron, professors coordinating the “Cold Forests” IRP

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