The use of rockfall protection forests is becoming a common practice in the European alps. Despite several recent research works, the estimation of the efficiency of standing trees and wooden protection structures remains very difficult. This efficiency is closely related to the resistance of - fresh, dry or decayed - tree stems to rock impacts. This resistance can be estimated from specific field experiments or from results from other research fields such as tree resistance to wind, for example. However, the impact of a standing or cut tree by a rock constitutes, from a mechanical point of view, a very complex and specific problem. Consequently, depending on the phytosanitary state of the stem, the type of structure impacted (standing trees or wooden structure), and the size and shape of the impacting rocks, specific studies should be done. In this context, the study presented aims at developing an innovative half-scale laboratory experiments to study the resistance of stems to rock impacts on different configurations in terms of tree properties (specie, dimensions ), projectile size and shape, and boundary conditions (fallen or standing trees). A methodology developed to use these experimental results is also presented for rock impacts on small fresh beech stems. This methodology consists in using the experimental results to calibrate a numerical model of impacts on fresh beech stems. The model calibrated can be used to design a rockfall wooden protection structure or to implement a tree interaction model into rockfall codes, for example.