Protective forests

Protective forests are forest massifs that have a recognised positive action in limiting natural hazards. Through their presence, protective forests can reduce to an acceptable value the risk to the population and property concerned. The sources of danger considered are rockfalls, landslides, torrential lavas or hyper-concentrated flows. Protective forests require care which, given their function, is carried out in the public interest. The attention paid to these forests and the improvement of the monitoring of state aid have made it necessary to collect geographical information organised in the geo-data layer. Each layer has different applications depending on the actors in the management of protective forests. Their dissemination is dependent on the interest of the target public disputes. The chapter specifically describes the layers of protective forests set up to ensure their management, and also describes other layers of the same subject but of less assertive importance or more limited use.