forests in France

[Biloute]

I discovered these maps on the internet:

forets en france.jpg

To my great surprise, forests have increased from 13 to 31% of the French territory between the 18th century and 2020. That's 2.4 times more, whereas I would have rather imagined a reduction.
Of course, these maps mean by forests, spaces occupied by trees of all species and we can imagine that the new forests are rather conifers which bring a profit more quickly than noble woods such as oak. But the question is, what were these lands used for before ? Were they fields and meadows ? In which case, it would sadly show the recession of French agriculture...

[Blaze]

Ah, Biloute, in many areas forestry versus agriculture is a hot topic.
We bought 10 ha of land that had been en friche for at least 30 years and no-one had ever taken any interest in buying or renting or doing anything with it. We paid very little and SAFER gave us no problems. A couple of farmers tried to stop us from planting trees but they had no leg to stand on - they didn't want the land. We joined the local forestry group and got all the help and support we needed.

I've looked at a lot of old photos of Brittany, particularly the coast and 50 to 100 years ago, there were far fewer trees than there are today. Like you, Biloute, I was surprised, because I've always got the feeling that trees are cut down unmercifully. The ONF seems to have excellent management programmes, cutting and replanting or letting seedlings take root. The land has to be left for at least a year after cutting down swathes to avoid any sort of infection or insect infestation - that's when the land can look a bit desolate. But nature soon takes over - just look how the land recovers after forest fires.

[Polarengineer]

There was an era where French Oak was a valuable material for shipbuilding. These maps may have been used to assess the availability of timber for shipbuilding.

[L Austin France]

There was an era where French Oak was a valuable material for shipbuilding. These maps may have been used to assess the availability of timber for shipbuilding.

Hundreds of Oak trees felled to rebuild Spire of Notre Dame.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-ne ... 180977481/

[Biloute]

There was an era where French Oak was a valuable material for shipbuilding. These maps may have been used to assess the availability of timber for shipbuilding.

Hundreds of Oak trees felled to rebuild Spire of Notre Dame.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-ne ... 180977481/

1000 old oaks felled for Notre-Dame, that's peanuts.
It is estimated that there are 1.2 billion oaks in French forests, of which about 90 million have a diameter greater than 50 cm. In any case, these oaks had been planted as noble wood for carpentry or cabinetmaking. So, why not for Notre Dame?

[Blaze]

In any case, these oaks had been planted as noble wood for carpentry or cabinetmaking. So, why not for Notre Dame?

Absolutely ! What better use than to preserve an icon like Notre Dame, whether you are religious or not. We've already mentioned in another topic the incredible work done by the artisans. What greater reward for them than to work with a noble wood ?

[L Austin France]

There was an era where French Oak was a valuable material for shipbuilding. These maps may have been used to assess the availability of timber for shipbuilding.

Hundreds of Oak trees felled to rebuild Spire of Notre Dame.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-ne ... 180977481/

1000 old oaks felled for Notre-Dame, that's peanuts.
It is estimated that there are 1.2 billion oaks in French forests, of which about 90 million have a diameter greater than 50 cm. In any case, these oaks had been planted as noble wood for carpentry or cabinetmaking. So, why not for Notre Dame?

What are you on about?
Actually it's Acorns & who said the oaks shouldn't be for Notre Dame?

[glazedallover]

Calm down Olive.

[Niftyons]

Noble wood. Fat chance.