INTERVIEW – This senior official has been following land use planning issues for a very long time. He is the author of Climate that hides the forest and he has published several articles on the issue of landscape. He teaches at AgroParisTech.
THE FIGARO MAGAZINE. – The fires that stunned France this summer highlighted the fragility of our landscapes. Yet they have been under severe strain for some time. How did this happen?
Guillaume SAINTENY. – Since the 1950s, French landscapes have experienced a profound break with previous centuries, where they were slowly changing. The two most striking developments are urban sprawl and the artificialization of soils but also of the aerial landscape. About 70,000 hectares of natural or agricultural areas are consumed each year, or one department every seven years. This is due to three factors: the rapid increase in areas devoted to housing with their consequences (large housing estates, sprawl, residential phenomenon, etc.), the expansion of road and energy infrastructures and the development of large commercial areas. In addition, the land consolidation has removed hedges, low walls, isolated trees, copses, etc.
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