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LANDES DE GASCOGNE FOREST

Landes forest and its emblematic maritime pines are home to a remarkable flora and fauna ! Unique in Europe, this heritage forest reveals an extraordinary richness : its huge, windy and green canopy stretches over more than a million hectares…

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Although cultivated and mainly devoted to production, this forest is nevertheless a preserved natural environment, where many species of fauna and flora reside...

Go exploring this wild heritage, discover wild herbs, ferns and other heathers ! Once lost in the huge alleys of maritime pines, you may have the chance to see a tit, a woodcock or a cuckoo in their natural habitats, alongside pheasants, hares, badgers, wild boars and deer ! It's in this forest, where the sea wind whistles and the song of its inhabitants resounds, that develops a rich undergrowth composed of oak, holly, and other European wastelands. It is by the will and the hand of man that the maritime pine, emblem of the region, reigns supreme over its ecosystem.

But the kingdom of maritime pine has not always had the same face ! Originally, there were barely 250,000 hectares of wooded land, threatened by sand and ocean wind… To this was added the floods of the plains most of the year, before giving way to a real desert in dry weather. Over the centuries, it was the work led by Desbiey, Brémontier and Chambrelent that gave the forest its present appearance. The heathlands were cleaned and the pines were sown gradually. As time went on, the improvement of cultivation techniques favored the development and productivity of maritime pine.

 

Nowadays, Landes de Gascogne forest is considered as one of the most beautiful examples of cultivated forest… strong of its maritime pine, true symbol of light, life and health!

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