French forest
The forest area of France covers 16.3 million hectares . This is 29.7% of the total area of the country. If you add the forest area of the French overseas territories , it amounts to 246,640 km², i.e. 36.7% of the total area that belongs to France.
In France, the forest population increased considerably in the 19th century. This was made possible by large afforestation programs and intensive agriculture.
Share of wood species
In 2011, the forest was 2.5 billion cubic meters, divided into 64% deciduous trees (1594 million cubic meters) and 36% conifers (880 million cubic meters).
- Sessile oak 11%
- English oak 12%
- European beech 11%
- Downy oak 4%
- Chestnuts 5%
- Hornbeam 4%
- Common ash 4%
- Other hardwood species 14%
- Spruce 7%
- White fir 7%
- Maritime pine 6%
- Douglas fir 4%
- Other conifer species 5%
The diversity of tree species on the French forest area is due to the three main climates of Europe (Mediterranean, continental and Atlantic). The variety of the different soils also plays a major role.
The tropical rainforest in France has no particular tree species. It is a mixture of many different species (several hundred per hectare).
Ownership
Three quarters of the French forest (12.2 million hectares) are privately owned. The corporate forest occupies 15% and the state forest 9% of the forest area (including the domain forests (forêt domaniale)). The public forest is managed by the Office national des forêts .
Privately owned
With 120,000 of 170,070 km², private forests make up the largest share (almost three quarters) of the forest area in France. It is divided among 3.5 million owners, who each own an average of 2.6 hectares. This strong subdivision is the result of numerous inheritance divisions made possible by Napoleon Bonaparte's civil code . The so-called bocage and isolated trees are in decline. Given the importance of wood as a raw material, the Centers régionaux de la propriété forestière (regional centers for forest owners) were created in 1963 . These offices advise the owners in the management of their forest and check compliance with the Plan simple de gestion (PSG). A PSG is a document in which the owners enter how their forest should develop over the next ten to twenty years. If the plan is neglected, a fine can be imposed.
In the overseas territories of France, most of the forest is state-owned and private ownership is only marginal.
State property
16,490 km², which corresponds to 10.1% of the total forest area and 3.1% of the total area of France (as of 2000), are directly subordinate to the central state of France. This area is divided into 1,426 different forests with an average size of almost 12 km². Of these, the Orléans forest is the largest with around 500 km². Many of these forests have old trees and were royal hunting grounds that were confiscated by the state during the French Revolution. An exception to this rule are the younger forests in north-east France, which were destroyed by fighting during the First World War in trench warfare and then reforested by the state.
The history of the French forest
At the time of the Gauls (500 BC to 400 AD)
The Gallic population, and especially the Druids, had a close relationship with the forest. He provided them with food and drink. The clearings created by the deforestation changed back to their original, overgrown condition in a relatively short time. Wood was the basic material of the Gauls , the uses of which they learned from the Romans. Wood was used to build cities, ships and bridges, to heat thermal baths and forges. It was also used in viticulture. During the times of peace between Gauls and Romans, there was a demographic boom. As a result, the southern forests of France have been marked from deforestation. The northern and eastern forests were crossed by long roads for strategic reasons. At that time, the French population was still not very aware of the forest. When the Huns invaded the country in the 5th century , this led to a decline in the French population and thus to a reduction in wood consumption.
In the middle ages
In the Middle Ages , three different groups shared forest ownership; these were the monasteries, the nobles and the royal family. The monasteries - there were up to 900 of them in the 11th century - contributed a lot to the destruction of the forest, as they were built in the middle of the forest, far from towns and villages. Many forests were already under the protection of the nobles who used the forest to process wood and hunt. The forest also offered shelter to many refugees.
A new era began in France from the 11th century. Economic and demographic growth accelerated as invasions by Normans and Hungarians subsided. This increased the consumption of wood. The clearing reached its peak at the end of the 12th century.
From 1300, the relationship between the country's inhabitants and the forest changed. The nobles began to tend the forest for the first time. Many worried about the future of hunting. Others feared a lack of wood and thus an economic problem. At that time, the French forest only took 20% of the area of France. So you had to protect the forest. On May 29, 1346 the first law book for the protection of the forest was issued. The following year, 1347, the plague, also known as the Black Death , broke out. Due to the associated decline in population, the clearing was stopped for some time.
From the 15th to the 18th century
From the 15th century, capitalism ruled Europe. Most of the big landowners wanted to make the greatest possible profit. The consumption of wood became more and more important. From this point on, the timber trade with foreign countries also increased, although it was a luxury to buy tropical timber. During this time there was a demographic upswing, because the plague had disappeared and peace also bore its fruits.
Under King Ludwig XII. there was still enough forest, which led to him being called the "good king". This situation changed quickly as large cities like Paris and Rouen began to complain of a lack of wood. The navy, the glass industry, and the fortifications used a lot of wood. But the most important wood consumer was the metal trade. In the 16th century there were around 460 handicraft businesses that consumed 1/6 of the total stock.
During the two subsequent post-war periods, when the kings were avid hunters, concern about the forest increased. Under Francis II the communities and the monasteries had to turn to parliament for the first time if they wanted to sell wood. As a result of this control, the forest area increased again to 35%. The results were satisfactory. At the same time the king sent emissaries into the woods to make sure that everything was right. This has protected many regions from clear cutting.
The 17th century was marked by the wars of religion. In contrast to the Hundred Years War , these did not lead to a regain of the forest. The military operations needed more and more wood to fortify the cities and to support the artillery. At the same time, however, there was also progress. On November 24th, 1560, the first French book to exclusively cover only the forest was published by Claude de Malleville.
In 1661, when Louis XIV came to power, the situation of the forest changed radically. The forest only comprised 26% of the area of France. From 1661 Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert took over forest management, which was previously under the command of the army. Colbert was already familiar with this area, but did not trust the previous employees very much. For new hires, the minimum age was 25 and the applicant had to take a test. Laws to protect the forest have been passed. The violation was severely punished. In the private forests, trees were only allowed to be felled every 10 years. Owners of forests up to 50 km from the sea or 4 km from a river had to obtain a permit to sell timber. The aim was to support shipbuilding, which devoured a lot of wood for the masts and hull. If the approval was not obtained, the owners had to hand over the wood and pay an additional 3,000 livres fine. Despite these precautions, the area of the forest in 1789 was smaller than in 1669.
In the 18th century there were increasingly violent revolts among the citizens. The years of peace that followed the death of Louis XV. that followed were beneficial to the forest. From 1750 the forest situation deteriorated again.
On December 24, 1772, the natural scientist René-Antoine Férchauld de Reaumur ordered the forest to be scientifically examined. As a result, other tree species (cedar, Austrian pine, etc.) were introduced to France from other countries. It was not until the second half of the 18th century that some regions, such as the Île de France, began to reforest the forest. However, much has been cleared in other parts of the country. Administrative policy has not been effective everywhere.
From the revolution to the end of the second French empire
Much has changed in the history of the forest since 1785. In 1852, under the reign of Napoleon III. the forest area reached its lowest point of 16%. Due to the wars, a lot of wood from French forests was used. In order to absorb this consumption, a lot of wood was imported from the conquered countries. Although forestry was now more stable than it was during the revolution, Napoleon implemented several reforms that were not necessarily beneficial. All foresters were required to wear uniform, and half of the employees were war wounded or senior officers.
France had lost the wars and had to surrender 530,475 hectares to the victorious powers. At that time, many French foresters were convinced of German forestry, which among other things led to the opening of a university for forest and water management in Nancy in 1820 .
In the second empire, systematic reforestation was carried out. Napoleon III had around 7654 hectares of forest planted in 1859.
From the 20th century until today
Between the two world wars, a lot was reforested, especially in the old fighting areas. During this period France exported a lot of hardwood, but still had to import 2/3 of the wood. The situation has improved a lot since the last century.
In 1965, the management of the forest was handed over to the “Office national des forêts” (ONF). In the last 25 years, the area of the forest has increased by 78,000 hectares, an annual increase of 1.6%.
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- Walter Kümmerley: La forêt. Kümmerley & Frey, éditeurs à Berne, Paris, 1967
- Bernard Fischesser: La vie de la forêt. édition de la Martinière, 2009