Les Landes are a gigantic monoculture of pines grown for timber and paper in south-western France. The Atlantic coast of France south of the gigantic Gironde estuary has vast sandy beaches, backed by some of the largest dunes in the world. Historically the flat marshy landscape inland was used for pasture, but from 1857 under legal changes aimed initially at stabilising the gigantic dune system, vast artificial forests of pines were planted, mostly under private ownership and for profit. This monoculture of highly flammable trees has been prone to fires, but until now, nothing like the current devastation. The coast has been one of the favourite holiday places for French people as well as foreign visitors jwith its vast sandy beaches. Inland, the big city of Bordeaux (famous of course for its wines); stands. The area of forest is estimated to be around 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 square miles), so gigantic, it is a significant chunk of the Gascoigne region of south west France.
The trees also provide resin used in varnishes, and even, as Rosin, to make the bows of string instruments such as violins grip the strings properly and produce a decent sound. Unfortunately, resin is incredibly flammable and pine trees are saturated in it, making them them into veritable roman candles.
Climate change is here now
Climate change has brought about a big increase in summer heat throughout mainland Europe, only mitigated slightly in the British Isles by the Atlantic and North Sea. Temperatures in the high 30s and 40s centigrade (90 – 100 plus in Fahrenheit) are increasingly commonplace. Summer 2026 has been no exception, coupled with exceptional drought. The French word, La Canicule is on everyone’s lips, causing rivers to dry (the mighty Loire is now largely sandbanks) and widespread glacial melting in the Alps.
All this has resulted in some of the largest forest fires in history. 200,000 residents and holiday makers have been ordered to flee by the centralised French government. I hear that the French fleet of 12 Canadairs (water-bombers) has ben reduced to 5 through neglect. Fire brigades from all over France and beyond have not contained the blaze, which even threatens the metropolis of Bordeaux. The fires have even generated a fire-generated monster storm with clouds reaching the top of the Troposphere; a pyrocumulonimbus.
Similar fires are now devastating parts of the Spanish state, near Madrid and Valencia. In Scotland, parts of the Cairngorms have been devasted, and the threat of fire is everywhere. Across the Atlantic, the smoke from fires in Canada has made the air almost unbreathable in eastern Canada and the US (and Trump is blaming Canada for its own misfortune, no surprise).
Useful links
The need for action against climate change and against massive monocultures has never been greater, and Daniel Tanuro in his article, reference below, draws further conclusions about the need for the fightback against climate change and for a combined ecosocialist fightback
https://internationalviewpoint.org/Heatwaves-strategy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landes_forest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin