France's 2026 Forest Fires Prompt Policy Critique from Yves D’Amécourt

In July 2026 several large forest fires have erupted across France, affecting the Médoc, Var, Haute‑Corse and other regions. The blazes have prompted emergency water drops from helicopters, evacuations and a rapid loss of thousands of hectares of forest.

Yves D’Amécourt, a vineyard owner and former elected official from Gironde who heads the environmental group Nouvelle Énergie, warned that France has failed to act on lessons from the catastrophic 2022 fires that destroyed more than 30,000 ha. He criticized contradictory policies, noting the suspension of a simple forest‑management plan by Senator Monique de Marco and the lack of systematic reforms. At the same time, Eric Fabre, president of the wildlife association Faune Sauvage, called for a shift from ambitious but unrealistic targets to concrete, small‑step measures on both adaptation and mitigation, pointing out that only about 1.8 % of French forest area currently enjoys strong protection versus a 10 % goal for 2030.