The loss of more than 20,000 hectares of pine forest in the Gironde department of southwest France is a disaster for the region and its population, but it could be a wake-up call on the need to adapt Europe's largest artificial forest to the challenges of climate change.
The area of Gironde, south of Bordeaux, has been ravaged by forest fires. 20,000 hectares of bone-dry forest and heathland in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras have gone up in smoke.
