With only 12% of forest area, the Pays-de-la-Loire is the least wooded region in France.
Agriculture and urbanization explain deforestation over the centuries.
For thirty years, the forest has clearly regained ground.
Little known for their timber resources, the Pays-de-la-Loire is indeed the least wooded region of France.
This is what emerges from the recent forest inventory carried out by the National Institute for Geographic Information (IGN).
The territory of the Loire is in fact only 12% covered by forest, that is to say approximately 400,000 wooded hectares.
Far from the national average (31%) and, above all, from the champions of the Corsica (66%) and Paca (52%) regions.
Even Ile-de-France does better (23%).
How to explain this situation ?
The explanation lies in the history of land use planning in Pays-de-la-Loire.
To the weight of cities and agriculture in particular.
“It's a fairly populated region, explains Nicolas Jannault, regional director of the National Forestry Office (ONF).
It is also a land of groves with a dynamic agriculture, especially in the field of livestock.
The lands are easily accessible.
This explains why there was no agricultural decline after the war, unlike many somewhat mountainous regions.
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This observation, accentuated by the boom in market gardening, is particularly valid in Vendée, Loire-Atlantique and Mayenne, which are among the least wooded departments in France.
Most forests are private
The forests of Pays-de-la-Loire have the particularity of being very scattered.
“The most wooded sector is the axis between Angers and Le Mans, where we find, in particular, very old massifs such as the forests of Bercé and Chandelais.
The forest of Gâvre (Loire-Atlantique) and that of Mervent (Vendée) are also important forests.
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Leafy trees (pedunculate oaks, gall oaks, chestnut trees, poplars, etc.) are dominant, but there are also a lot of thorns, maritime pines in particular, "planted on less fertile soils such as the old moors", specifies the ONF .
Another specificity: 90% of the forest area of Pays-de-la Loire belongs to private owners, who would number around 140,000.
This makes it the third French region with the highest share of private forest.
The trees are gaining ground
However, the forest deficit of Pays-de-la-Loire has tended to correct itself for thirty years.
The forest area has thus increased by 31% since 1985, according to the inventory carried out by the IGN.
A trend above the national average (+21%).
"As we had a small base in absolute value, the percentage increase is greater than in other regions," says Nicolas Jannault.
That said, there is a real dynamism of the plantations.
It is linked to agricultural areas that are difficult to develop and which are replanted by their owners to produce timber.
They can benefit from public aid for this.
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Unlike the east or south of France, the Pays-de-la-Loire is also fortunate to be little affected by health issues and drought.
Good news because the forest "has an important role to play in the fight against global warming", recalls the ONF.
“It stores carbon through photosynthesis, insists Nicolas Jannault.
The use of wood in construction also requires less energy than other materials.
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The wood sector represents some 30,000 jobs in Pays-de-la-Loire.
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