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France’s forest cover doubles but faces new threats
France has doubled its forested area in the last 200 years but still faces problems of loss of biodiversity because of global warming and monoculture.
There was 8.5million hectares of forest in 1830, the Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière said – and 17million hectares today, says the Office National des Forêts.
This is due to changes in farm practices and reforesting projects launched after the war.Forests are 67% broadleaf, 21% conifer, and 12% mixed.
France has the third largest cover in Europe after Germany and Sweden, yet still imports more than it produces.
Numbers of plants, animals and insects have fallen, as 83% of forests have only two varieties of trees, and researchers say industrial clear-felling is creating problems with flooding while climate change is bringing in new parasites.
