Short answer. Yes. Article 577 of the Civil Code specifically allows a usufructuary to make the necessary thinnings in nurseries so that the remaining trees may properly grow. This is a recognized exception to the general rule that limits a usufructuary's right to cut trees.
What the law says
In nurseries, the usufructuary may make the necessary thinnings in order that the remaining trees may properly grow.
Civil Code, Article 577 — Usufruct of Woodland. Read the full provision →
The general right to enjoy woodland benefits
Article 577 of the Civil Code starts from the premise that a usufructuary of woodland is entitled to enjoy all the benefits the woodland can produce according to its nature. A woodland nursery — a place where young trees are cultivated for eventual planting or sale — generates its value through the growth of its trees. Thinning is often essential to that process: overcrowded seedlings compete for light and nutrients, and without thinning, many trees grow poorly. The law recognizes this and allows the necessary intervention.
Nursery thinning as a specific permission
The article calls out nurseries explicitly. In nurseries, the usufructuary may make the necessary thinnings in order that the remaining trees may properly grow. The word necessary is important — this is not license for arbitrary cutting but for thinning that the nursery's productive purpose requires. The usufructuary is maintaining the nursery as a going concern and taking the kind of management action that an owner would also take. The cut trees removed in the thinning process are a byproduct of good forest management, not the goal.
What a usufructuary cannot do with woodland trees
Outside the specific permissions in Article 577 — ordinary cutting and felling according to the owner's habits or local custom, and nursery thinnings — the usufructuary cannot cut down trees unless it is to restore or improve something in the usufruct. And even in that case, the usufructuary must first inform the owner of the necessity for the work. The article also requires that all felling and cutting be done in a way that does not prejudice the preservation of the land. These limits prevent a usufructuary from harvesting the woodland for timber income while degrading the long-term value of the property.
Applying these rules in practice
If you hold a usufruct over a woodland nursery and want to carry out thinning, the key questions are whether the thinning is genuinely necessary for the remaining trees to properly grow and whether your actions preserve the land. Documenting the forestry reasons for each thinning decision — ideally with a management plan — protects you if the owner later disputes whether the cutting was within your rights. If you are unsure whether a planned operation falls within the permissions of Article 577 or requires notifying the owner, consulting a lawyer before beginning the work is the safer path.