Verdun “Exceptional Forest”

The Verdun battlefield was a major witness to the fighting of the Great War, and to the suffering of men and populations, and saw the death of several hundred thousand soldiers from both the French and German armies. It is now covered by a 10,000-hectare forest.

Created by foresters under extreme conditions just after the Great War, the Verdun forest is the guardian of the memory of the site. It is exceptional for its history, its strong symbolic value, its silvicultural capital and, today, the richness of its specific biodiversity linked to the legacy of the Great War. Thanks to the forest, the memory of the battlefield can be passed on to future generations.

In addition to its remarkable amphibian species, the Verdun state forest is also home to a wide variety of orchids. Indeed, in these semi-natural environments created by the abandonment of battlefields to nature, a rare flora has developed spontaneously. More than twenty different species, including bumblebee, fly, bee and neglected orchids, cohabit with surprising insects and butterflies.