Hyèrois forests
A green setting
Around the town of Hyères, with the Borrels, the Maurettes, the Fenouillet, the Mont des Oiseaux and the Costebelle hills, Hyères’ forested areas are an ecological and scenic asset, as well as popular recreational areas.
However, like all wooded areas in the Mediterranean climate, where summer drought is rife, this heritage is threatened by the risk of wildfire, which the town is strongly committed to combating, and calls on all users to be vigilant. Depending on their age, the nature of the substrate and, above all, the way they have been managed, Mediterranean forests present different profiles:
- Yeuseraie (holm oak forest) or suberaies (cork oak forest) in valley bottoms or island forests
- Aleppo pine forests on hills recently affected by fire or coastal formations
- Dense scrubland with thorny calycotome and tree heather on former cultivated terraces
- Garrigues (scrubland), where open areas are home to numerous herbaceous plants, including orchids in their most beautiful finery.
- Valley-bottom wadis colonized by a specific biocenosis, the flagship of which is the wild rose-laurel.
These different habitats are home to a wide variety of fauna : wild boar, garter snakes, orvets, Hermann’s tortoise (a species protected by law and whose collection is prohibited), southern tree frog, etc.
In addition, this part of the Maures is particularly rich in breeding birds, some of which are remarkable for their European protection status: sparrow hawks, kestrels, red-legged partridges, owls, scops owls, woodl larks, pitchou warblers, red-backed shrikes, nightjars, etc.
Behavioural instructions :
- Respect the ban on access to forest areas when the A.L.A.R.M. plan is activated.
- Do not smoke or light fires in the forest.
- Do not litter.