80 hectares of pine forest went up in smoke on August 1, 2017 at a place called Maurettes. Since this major disaster, the town of Istres has been carrying out an operation to restore the burned land. A new planting campaign will start next week, mobilizing hundreds of young people and volunteers.
The first plantings had already been carried out in 2019 (see our archive video report), 2021, 2022 and 2023, after the terrible fire which ravaged 80 hectares in Les Maurettes. Plantations carried out as part of ongoing “Clean and Sustainable Istres” actions. This operation “On Sainte-Catherine’s Day, let’s plant a tree in our hills”is renewed this year. It will take place from Monday 25 to Friday 29 November 2024 in the communal spaces located near the Maurettes cemetery, announces the city of Istres.
This operation will consist of maintaining the existing plans (manual weeding, providing stakes and protection) and planting 400 new young trees. Hundreds of volunteers will be mobilized, as every year, from the local associative fabric, educational establishments (middle and high schools), civic, social, employment and disability structures in an approach that the city wishes to be “resolutely inter- generational.
