“We had to be patient”: Why was the first cinerary forest in France suspended for 4 years, in the south of Haute-Garonne?

The creation of the Arbas cinerary forest, a town of 279 people in the south of Haute-Garonne, was not a smooth ride. “We had to be patient, it was the very first cinerary forest project in France so it withstood any questions,” recalls Élia Conte Douette, funeral operator at Cime’tree, the company behind this pilot project. On paper, the concept was simple: bury the ashes of the deceased at the foot of a tree, in the middle of the forest. But to succeed, this alternative to the traditional cemetery encountered several administrative obstacles.

We first had to find a municipality that agreed to protect part of its forest. This step will have been the quickest. When the Toulouse entrepreneur proposed the project to the elected officials of Arbas, they immediately joined. This is how in 2019, in the Fontaine de l'Ours forest, a 1.25 hectare plot was transformed into a place of meditation with 216 locations.

No own legislation

The concept immediately sparked enthusiasm. But not that of state services. At the end of 2020, the sub-prefecture asked to suspend the project. “They hide behind the cemetery legislation, and as it has not evolved, the cinerary forests do not have their own legislation,” notes Jean Cazes, the mayor of Arbas. In the texts, a cemetery must be a space enclosed by fences of at least 1.50 meters. “Putting up walls would be contrary to this project which responds to a real demand to be closer to nature.”

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To comply with legal requirements, the town hall had to make concessions, particularly on the nature of the ballot boxes. If the initial project included the use of biodegradable urns, it will ultimately be non-biodegradable flexible urns. Without return from state services within the legality control period, the municipality considers its new regulation applicable. After four years of administrative “yoyo”, the Arbas cinerary forest reopened in July 2024, prioritizing burials in concessions previously sold.