France's forest management may need to change to prevent more wildfires in Les Landes

PARIS (AP) — History keeps repeating itself in the smoldering forests of southwest France, now ash-covered and charred. Devastated by previous blazes in 2022 and 1949, when 82 people died, the largest human-made woodland in Western Europe has again been ravaged by wildfires which burned an area four times the size of Paris. The forests of Les Landes — covering 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) — were created in the 19th century for timber and resin production.

They comprise endless rows of pines in neat, close lines, which works against them in a wildfire, with flames jumping easily from one tree to another. Blazes loom as a growing danger for the timberland because Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. But climate change isn’t its sole vulnerability, experts say.

They also point to the very nature of such industrial plantation, whose origins date back to the Second French Empire. The latest disaster is forcing a rethink in France about how to better prepare and manage forest expanses to cope with hotter, drier, more fire-prone conditions made worse by human-caused climate change — from the burning of coal, oil and gas. President Emmanuel Macron said a different kind of forest should be replanted.

“The structural conditions created by climate change, under which we will have to live, have changed,” he said. “So has the pressure from housing and tourism.” Highly flammable plantations Maritime pine is considered relatively fire-resistant due to its thick bark and ability to regenerate naturally. But experts believe its monoculture increases risk.

Single-species forests of conifers are drier than mixed forests of broadleaf trees and conifers, favoring flames. “In a healthy, diverse forest there are multiple tree species, different age classes and several layers of vegetation, from ground plants and shrubs to mature trees such as oaks and beeches,” says Nathalie Naulet, an expert in forestry and agriculture. “In these ecosystems, less than 3% of the sun’s radiation reaches the forest floor.” In Les Landes, that layered structure does not exist.

“Without a protective canopy, the soil heats up and dries out,” Naulet said. “The top few centimeters of soil, which should normally consist of water-rich humus, become dry and impoverished. In many places, humus has virtually disappeared.” Broadleaf trees retain more moisture, better for resisting…