Current state
| In 2023, the forested area in France reaches 17.5 million hectares (covering 32% of the territory) [1]. The forested area accounted for 8.9 million hectares in 1840 and 14.4 million hectares in 1985. This makes it the second largest land use after agricultural lands which cover more than half of the country. |
Definition of a forest.
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This important expansion was mainly due to:
– the rural exodus,
– the post-war agricultural revolution,
– land afforestation by the Fonds forestier national (FFN) with 2 million hectares of trees planted between 1947 and 1999,
– and the continuation of the reafforestation effort in mountainous areas.
Over the past 10 years, this increase in forest area has continued.
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| Afforestation rate in 1908. | |
| Afforestation rate is 32% in mainland France. However, there are significant geographical differences. The northeastern and southern parts of the territory display a higher rate than the northwestern area. In particular, Alpes-Maritimes and Southern Corsica have an afforestation rate exceeding than 65%. At the opposite, Manche, Vendée, Mayenne and Deux-Sèvres, located in the western part of the country, have an afforestation rate below 10%. |
 Afforestation rate in 2023. |
Evolution of the forested area in mainland France
The forested area has constantly expanded since the second half of the 19th century. In 1830, the wooded area in France was estimated to be between 8.9 and 9.5 million hectares (Cinotti, 1996 [2]). By 1985, the forest covered 14.1 million hectares [3]. Since 1985, the annual expansion recorded by the NFI has reached up to 88 000 hectares.
| The increase in forested area is mainly observed in the south (i.e. the mediterannean region and Corsica) and in the northeastern part of the territory (i.e. Brittany and the Pays de la Loire regions). This increase is also observed in the Pas-de-Calais department. In the southeastern part of France, the increase is linked to areas that are no longer used for agriculture and pastoralism. In regions with an historical use of forest, such as northeastern France and landean massif, as well as in the Paris region, which is marked by high urban pressure, the rise in forested area is slower. |  |
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| Evolution of the forested area since 1985. |
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