Pine nematode in Seignosse: Are foresters being deprived of mail? Impossible to confirm

28 septembre 2026 4 Min Read

In December 2025, foresters complained about the lack of correspondence instructing them on how to carry out the required logging around the pine wood nematode infestation in Seignosse. Official decrees and statements confirm the urgency of the work, but do not indicate which landowners had received individual notifications at the time of this complaint. Subsequent documents confirm that notifications were indeed received later: the date is crucial here.

The claim has been verified

At a press conference held on December 1, 2025 , representatives of the Southwest Forestry Union stated that the affected landowners had not received the official notifications detailing the mandatory logging. In an excerpt from an article published on December 2 by Le vrai du faux (The True and the False), Éric Dumontet, head of the union, requests instructions regarding the capacity for felling, removing, and chipping the trees. However, this excerpt does not provide a list of the landowners concerned, the number of letters expected, or the full wording of the request. The verification therefore focuses on one specific point: had the individual notifications been received by December 1, 2025? ( scoop.it )

What the facts show

The warning was very real. After the outbreak was detected in Seignosse in early November 2025, the authorities defined an infested zone within a 500-meter radius of the contaminated trees. The prefectural press release of November 14th indicated that the susceptible plants within this zone had to be felled before December 31st, 2025. This initial deadline explains the practical importance of the instructions requested by the landowners. It was subsequently postponed to February 15th, 2026, by a decision announced on December 12th. ( landes.gouv.fr )

However, the publication of a decree is not proof of receipt of an individual letter . The press release of November 14th describes the control meas and the steps taken with the Regional Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DRAAF); it does not provide a status of mailings or receipts. For its part, the National Center for Forest Ownership indicated that an informational message would now accompany certain letters sent to the owners concerned. This announcement does not, however, establish who had already received a notification ordering the work by December 1st. ( prefectures-regions.gouv.fr )

The verification

Subsequent documents shed light on the situation, but do not fully resolve the question posed at the time the complaint was filed. In a press release dated December 12, 2025 , the prefecture stated that the owners of the affected plots, both private individuals and foresters, were informed of the meas and their implementation. It did not specify the date any letters were sent, nor the date they were received by each party. Then, in a document published on January 19, 2026 , the Regional Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DRAAF) indicated that owners of trees located in the infested area had received an administrative notification imposing control meas. Again, this retrospective statement does not date the notifications and does not demonstrate that they were received before December 1st. ( prefectures-regions.gouv.fr )

Another document illustrates why it’s also important to distinguish between being informed about the outbreak and having the necessary information to organize the logging . In the minutes of its municipal council meeting of December 15, 2025 , the municipality of Seignosse explains that it distributed a leaflet after the outbreak was announced and organized meetings. It also indicates that it wrote to state services because it felt it lacked information, particularly regarding the organization of the work and compensation. This testimony does not prove that foresters were not notified; it confirms that disseminating general information did not necessarily resolve the specific questions of the landowners. ( seignosse.fr )

Sources and data

The public documents consulted establish the dates, deadlines, and declared existence of notifications received subsequently. They do not provide a dated register of mailings and deliveries that would allow for the reconstruction of each owner’s situation as of December 1, 2025. Without this information, it is impossible to confirm either that all the owners concerned were still awaiting their mail or that they had already received it. This observation applies to this dated statement, and not to all the communication surrounding the fire. ( prefectures-regions.gouv.fr )

Verdict

Verdict: impossible to confirm. The foresters’ complaint is consistent with the available documents, but these documents do not allow verification of receipts as of December 1, 2025. The DRAAF’s subsequent assertion that notifications were received is insufficient to refute a complaint filed several weeks earlier. ( scoop.it )

Key takeaways

The question is not simply whether the state made its instructions public, but when the property owners in question received their individual instructions . On this specific point, the public documents found do not provide a definitive answer.

Main source: The truth and the lies (www.sudouest.fr)

Original article: See the original source