Partial reopening of the Fontainebleau forest after the July fires

Millions of people were impatiently awaiting this: the reopening of the Fontainebleau forest after the fire which destroyed 2,000 hectares in mid-July. Since the morning of Saturday August 22, 80% of the massif has been accessible to the public again. Only the burned areas and those immediately surrounding them remain closed. There will undoubtedly be a lot of people when it reopens.

From the window of their apartment, Camille and Vianney saw the forest burning in mid-July. Vianney remembers this scene with "the whole column of smoke in front of the window. We live on the third floor, so it's true that it's scary." Since then, with their little daughter, they have been impatiently walking in the few areas that remain accessible. “We also live in an apartment, so the forest is a bit like our garden, we spend a lot of time there,” explains Camille, speaking of this forest which they missed this summer.

Supporting the public rather than restricting them

The prefecture maintains the closure of 4,000 of the 22,000 hectares of the forest. The prefect responsible for equal opportunities for Seine-et-Marne, Benoît Kaplan, believes that for the rest, it was better to reopen: "If we close too much, we will be chasing away the actors who want to enter the forest, he says. We prefer to accompany the public on marked routes with a strong presence of ONF teams in the forest, supported by the police and the gendarmerie rather than completely bunkering, this is not necessarily more effective."

Vianney will have to change her jogging route. He was running behind the pheasantry which was badly hit, he will "necessarily go elsewhere. And if I can go stretch my legs in the forest, I will go there." It's not serious. He also wants to give the forest time to revive, hoping that climate change does not bring new disasters.