“I have mourned the forest that I have known and now people have to accept that we are on a long time”, asserts Claude Olive. One year after the fire which devastated the forest of Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), its mayor considers that it is now necessary “to think about the forest of tomorrow, in the conditions of tomorrow …”. Global warming, insects …, the mayor wonders: how should trees be replanted in the city?
Where the maritime pines stood several meters high, in this busy 250 hectare island of greenery between the Adour River and the Atlantic, the view is clear today. In the distance, we can see the port of Bayonne and its industrial facilities, and even a rugby stadium, the starting point of the man-made fire started at 6:32 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, 2020.
Opposite the forest, the Izadia Natural Park, whose 10 hectares have also been destroyed, has recovered. The blackened trunks were cut, the burnt part entirely cleared.
The intention was to leave as many trees as possible to maintain the landscape, but “nature quickly caught up with us and the bark beetles reminded us that they are the ones who make the law”, says Antoine Oberlé, director of the unit. territorial Basque Country of the National Forestry Office (ONF). These so-called “pest” xylophagous insects have dug galleries in the bark of weakened trees, laying thousands of eggs. ONF agents raked the forest and each affected tree was felled and evacuated.
The forest, “it is our coat of arms”
A year later, the risk of fire is on everyone’s mind. If the humid Basque Country does not know the violent fires of the Gironde or the South-East, global warming could change the situation.
“The rise in temperatures causes dieback, the trees dry up and diseases arrive”, emphasizes Antoine Oberlé.
The choice of species to replant is difficult: in Anglet, the cork oaks, closer to the ground and with a wetter trunk, remained intact when the pines went up in smoke. But the pine forest remains more suited to rising temperatures, because it is rooted in sandy soil that does not require much water.
“There is no miracle solution”, recognizes the ONF. By the end of the year, a “management plan” for the forest will have to be validated between the City, the departmental council and the ONF. “We will surely start replanting between now and 2022 or 2023”, estimates the ONF.
Beyond the necessary physiological rest of the place, several tens of thousands of plants must be ordered from nurserymen.
This spectacular fire had occurred when the temperature was over 40 °, with hot swirling winds complicating the action of the firefighters despite the reinforcement of two Canadair. The fire also destroyed five houses without causing any casualties. A 16-year-old teenager at the time of the incident, known for his “tendency to arson”, was indicted “for a criminal offense of willful destruction by fire”.
In the meantime, the mayor, like the ONF, places a lot of hope in natural regeneration. Already, the sandy soil allows a few tiny maritime pines to break through. “The forest is our identity, it is our coat of arms and it is even our motto: but and pignada for m’aida, which means the sea and the pine forest to help me, in Gascon “, smiles Claude Olive.
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