Massane

The Massane forest is located in the south of France, clinging to the eastern end of the Pyrenees between altitudes of 600 and 1,158 metres, overlooking the Mediterranean coast.

The forest is located at a biogeographic crossroad between Pyrenean and Mediterranean influences. The beech forest covers 336 hectares that have evolved naturally for over 150 years. The reserve is one of the best inventoried protected areas in Europe, with more than 8,200 species from two biogeographical regions accounted for. The forest is home to 1,766 species of beetle, of which 634 are markers for forest maturity, with many heritage species such as Hermit beetle, Alpine longhorn beetle,Great capricorn beetle, European stag beetle,and Ampedus quadrisignatus.

The Massane Beech Forest is a representative of the glacial refuge of Catalonia and is considered the origin of the post-glacial recolonisation of the Eastern-Pyrenees and the south-west of the Massif Central, a lineage rather rare in Europe. Therefore, La Massane constitutes an essential link as a testimony to the history of the persistence of beech for 6,000 years and as a sentinel forest of climate change in the montane meso-Mediterranean climate. The maturity and the naturalness of the stands are illustrated by the presence of several hundred trees of more than one meter in diameter whose seniority is estimated at 300 years.

• UNESCO recognition: 2021
• Protected area: Massane National Nature Reserve
• Beech forest region: Pyrenaic-Iberian
• Area: 121.49 ha
• Number of component parts: 1
• Altitudinal range: submontane to montane (600 and 1,158 m m above sea level)
• Fauna: Hermit beetle, Alpine longhorn beetle, European stag beetle
• Coordinates of the Central Point: N 42° 28’ 58’’, E 3° 1’ 45’’