France’s Macron pledges to replant Fontainebleau forest after devastating fire

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to explanations of a member of the SDIS, Departmental Fire and Rescue Service as he meets with forest police and firefighters following the forest fires in Fontainebleau in Noisy-sur-Ecole, near Fontainebleau, France, Jul. 16, 2026.(Reuters)

• “Your forest ⁠is our forest because it is a treasure,” Macron said in Fontainebleau
• “It ⁠is a treasure for welcoming ‌people and ‌for biodiversity“

PARIS: French ‌President Emmanuel Macron pledged to replant the historic Fontainebleau forest south of Paris on Thursday after wildfires scorched at least 10 percent of the 20,000-hectare domain and forced 1,000 residents to flee.
The fire is now contained but Macron warned it would ‌take several weeks ‌for it to ‌be ⁠completely extinguished.
“Your forest ⁠is our forest because it is a treasure,” Macron said in Fontainebleau as he announced the launch of a fundraising campaign to replant the forest. “It ⁠is a treasure for welcoming ‌people and ‌for biodiversity.”
The fundraising campaign ‌is led by the Fontainebleau municipality, ‌the National Forest Office (ONF) and the Fondation du Patrimoine, Macron said.
The Fontainebleau forest is a former royal ‌hunting ground that later became a celebrated subject for ⁠Impressionist painters ⁠and attracts hikers, nature lovers and climbers to its famous boulders.
In 2019 Macron made a similar pledge to rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral after a blaze devastated large parts of the gothic gem. Notre-Dame reopened in 2024 after individual, corporate and private donors pledged nearly €900 million in donations.