Pays-de-Monts National Forest
The Pays-de-Monts national forest, also known as the Monts forest, is a French national forest stretching over the dunes of the northern Vendée coast.
Description
25 km long between Fromentine to the north and Sion-sur-l'Océan to the south, its width does not exceed. It has a total area of - La Barre-de-Monts alone totals hectares, making it the largest forest area on the Vendée coast. It also impacts on the town planning of coastal municipalities such as those of Saint-Jean-de-Monts and Notre-Dame-de-Monts by separating the waterfronts from their town centres with wooded avenues forming a "greenway" of a hundred meters width. Its altitude ranges from sea-level of the bordering coasts and marshes to a high point of 20m at the Pic de la Blet near La Barre-de-Monts.History
The national forest of Pays-de-Monts was planted at the end of the 19th century under the Second Empire as part of a broader process of fixing the dunes and draining the marshes for cultivation.Tree species
The predominant tree species of the forest is the maritime pine which covers 75% of the forest but is however now experiencing a real decline. Other tree species include Stone pine, Corsican Black pine, Holm oak, and Montpellier maple.Environment
According to Natura 2000, the forest is part of a larger geographical framework also encompassing the marshes of the Marais Breton, the Bay of Bourgneuf, and the island of Noirmoutier.This same geographical area was designated on February 2, 2017 as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.