France last week officially opened its newest national park, and the one closest to Paris. The Parc National des forets de Champagne et Bourgogne, or National Park of the Champagne/Bourgogne Forests, covers 250,000 hectares and is about three hours drive from Paris.
The park includes ancient forests and rare plants, some unknown anywhere else. Among the fauna to be found are black storks, deer, wild boar and wild cats. There are also 2,000 km of hiking trails and 700 km of rivers suitable for kayaking and more. Authorities note that the area includes archaeological sites going back as far as 750 BC, and that “eighty percent of the trees here already were there at the time of the French Revolution.
Unlike U.S. national parks, which consist of government-owned land separated from daily living, France’s parks include set-aside lands, farming, towns and villages within a broad area. The park status protects against inappropriate development and requires planning and permission for anything that will change the nature of the area.
The new park is France’s eleventh, with two of them being in overseas territories.
