The fires in Gironde are far from extinguished, but the controversy has ignited on social networks. In a tweet shared more than 4,400 times, also relayed on Facebook, Mac Lesggy denounced the “ecologists” who “congratulated themselves” in July 2021 “for having prevented the developments desired by the firefighters to protect the Teste de Buch forest. fire “. This forest, which bordered the famous dune of Pilat, was largely destroyed by the fires.
As proof, the ex-presenter of M6 cites Vital Baude, regional environmental adviser for New Aquitaine. Last year, the latter welcomed on Twitter the intervention of Senator EELV, Monique de Marco, who had allowed the suspension “of the simple management plan for the user forest of Teste-de-Buch” and led to the implementation implementation of an expert mission, mandated by the government.
FAKE OFF
These words of elected environmentalists have been taken out of context. And the allegations on social networks also combine two issues: that of the opposition of elected officials from all sides and Addufu, an association of forest users, to a simple management plan and an appeal led by this same association concerning the procedure for defense works against forest fires (DFCI).
“These accusations are absolutely unfounded”, indignant Monique de Marco, senator EELV, to 20 minutes. Vital Baude also denounces on Twitter “indecent attacks” for “having defended the rights of use of the user forest which is part of the Teste-de-Buch forest massif. In 2021, other political figures such as Patrick Davet, LR mayor of Teste-de-Buch, or MP LREM Sophie Panonacle also opposed the simple management plan (PSG) submitted by the company Athanor, owner of a 43 ha plot.
An intervention to “clarify the status of the user forest”
What is this plane? It allows a forest owner to program cuts and work and, if approved by the State, to benefit from tax exemptions and aid. When the municipal council adopts a opposition motion at PSG in June 2021, Patrick Davet considered that he was running a “risk”, with “cutting of entire hectares in this forest which would endanger the balance, biodiversity and even security”.
Senator EELV explains that preventing the development of roads for firefighters was “not at all the meaning of [s] we intervene during questions to the government”, another sequence that has gone viral. In July 2021, she asked Barbara Pompili, then Minister for Ecological Transition, to “clarify the situation of the status of this user forest of the Teste”. “There was a simple forest management plan that was filed to cut trees and it did not refer to the ancestral management method that dates from the 15th century,” she continues.
Unique management inherited from the Middle Ages
Indeed, the user forest of Teste-de-Buch, with an area of nearly 3,900 hectares, has a unique management in France, inherited from the Middle Ages. Private, it is governed by a set of “bailettes and transactions”, texts detailing the rights and duties of the owners and users of the forest, the oldest of which dates back to 1468. Residents over the age of ten former Captalat de Buch, which today covers the municipalities of La Teste-de-Buch, Gujan-Mestras, Arcachon and Lège Cap-Ferret, benefit from a right of use. They can use dead wood from the forest for heating and, under certain conditions, timber for construction. The owners of the plots are the only ones who can harvest the resin from the pines, an activity that disappeared during the 20th century.
As remarked The report handed over to the government in January 2022, users and owners “jealously watch over their respective rights, regularly leading to periods of heightened tension”. The mission of the two bridge, water and forest engineers was to clarify “the legal framework enforceable against owners and beneficiaries of the right of use” and “propose a framework for consultation”, after meeting around sixty stakeholders.
Fire defense works have been delayed
“I was not at all against the felling of trees, adds Monique de Marco. There, it was a commercial slaughter [sur la parcelle de 43 ha] and he had to refer to specific rules. For her, the report recognized the rights of users, “but explained that this system had to be adapted”. It was also recommended to carry out “urgent” works to protect forests against fires (DFCI) and to decide on the terms of devolution concerning them.
Because this work, planned for early 2021, had been delayed, as the report points out. The Association for the rights of users of the user forest (Addufu) had filed an appeal with the administrative court of Bordeaux against the prior authorization issued by the mayor of La Teste. Not against the works themselves, but because they “had not been planned in compliance with the provisions of the bailttes and transactions”, details the report. The procedure for organizing these cuts not having been provided for in the texts, the authors urge the syndics of the users and the owners to find an agreement to carry them out, in particular the widening of the access roads.
Addufu defends itself in a press release
In a communicated, Addufu, also questioned on social networks, refuses to be a “scapegoat” and condemns remarks deemed “slanderous and offensive”. The association, which did not respond to our request for an interview, explains that it will provide “in due course” the elements demonstrating its approval of the defense work against forest fires. She explains that she has “constantly supported the project to widen the forest roads”. And defends her position: “It was enough for the trees to be felled to be marked by the trustees, for the volumes to be estimated by them and for the sale of the wood to be made by auction to the highest bidder”, she writes.
It also wishes to recall that “exceptionally high temperatures (+40°C), abnormally low humidity (<30%) or even the water balance deficit (-19%) over the year in the region" may be among the the causes of this fire.
Asked about BFMTV, the mayor of La Teste-de-Buch admitted on Tuesday that “perhaps if the forest had been better maintained, perhaps the fire would have been of a totally different magnitude”. And to add that “the time for discussions, responsibilities will come”, once the fire is extinguished. In Gironde, more than 20,600 hectares have burned, including 7,000 on the side of La Teste-de-Buch and 13,600 in the Landiras forest.