This municipality in Gironde has decided to create a forest very close to its city center

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It is a quiet place, a little away from the town center of Langon (Gironde), located along rue du Baron, very close to the peaceful Brion, which flows not far from there into the Garonne.

Until very recently, a poplar grove was located here. But all the poplars were cut down last October.

Instead, young trees growmainly oaks, which will form an experimental forest bearing the name of Brion natural park.

450 trees planted near downtown Langon

“On this plot, we have planted different species of oaks, adapted to the conditions of global warming,” argues Marc-François Didier, in charge of the city project at Langon town hall.

In total, including other plots, there are no less than 7 hectares which will be transformed to accommodate some 450 oaks.

The objective is to create a natural area in contact with the city

Without making it a 'closed area', quite the contrary… Because the municipality's wish is to create an open forestaccessible to as many people as possible thanks to pedestrian connections. “This will make it possible in particular to carry out awareness work around the theme of the environment,” specifies the elected official.

Rigorously chosen tree species

The different plants come from the Preille botanical nurseries, in Boivre-la-Vallée (Vienne), where Chantal Pharaon went last July, to “understand the challenges of choosing species in relation to climate change and modes of production.

“We have been working on this project for a long time,” comments Langon’s first assistant enthusiastically. It’s a real job, but also a real pleasure! »

Towards “a plant explosion” of the new Langon forest

All of the work was carried out by the green spaces department, stakeholder in this operation.

The dozen members of the service had previously visited the experimental forest of the Floirac observatory on November 12, where we are studying “the response of forests to environmental changes to better adapt their management in order to minimize the impact of climate change.

Total cost of this project, designed in-house by the city of Langon : €180,000, financed to the tune of €136,227 by the departmental council.

What will these places look like in the future? “In ten years, there will already be a good result,” predicts Marc-François Didier. We will have witnessed a plant explosion and the tops of certain trees will already be ten or fifteen meters high. »

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