At the heart of the Landes forest in Gascogne, the leading cultivated forest in Europe, the Territory of the Mimizan Community of Communes represents an ancient and remarkable "forestry and industrial culture". One job out of three is related to the exploitation and transformation of the Landes pine. Numerous dynamic businesses represent all the activities of the integrated chain from preparation of the soil and selection of the species up to the ultimate and most varied types of transformation, including all the forestry research and management bodies: - natural brown paper for Papeteries de Gascogne,
- small and medium size packing boxes for Gascogne emballage,
- self-coloured or tinted parquet floors and panelling for FP Bois,
- wooden houses made of maritime pine for SEDED,
- genetic research with orchards grown from second generation grains, INRA and GIS "Maritime pine of the future",
- test area for validation of long-term management indicators with the Aquitaine forest monitoring centre,
- modern forestry and development of forest areas with ONF, the DFCI associations, the Aquitane CRPF and the Landes Chamber of Agriculture forestry advisors, and many others.
Around Mimizan within a radius of less than 50 km are located the largest companies in the Landes. See map. Within the Landes Nature Côte d'Argent area, 10 companies in the +50 employees category offer employment to more than 2000.
- 1.2 million hectares in a single stretch, planted with maritime pine,
- a high-quality resource continuously improved by genetic research,
- an annual harvest of 8 to 9 000 000 m3,
- provisioning of the wood transformation industries (saw mills, panelling, paper and chemical industries,…).
- 28 000 jobs involved and an annual turnover of 2.6 billion Euros,
- foresters involved in the long-term management of their forest: 3 396 owners committed to PEFC certification over more than 568 000 hectares,
- the forest-wood research centre of Bordeaux-Pierroton, unique in Europe: more than 100 research scientists covering areas from the study of the genome of ligneous species up to the mechanical behaviour of wood-based products.
The presence of international leaders makes Aquitaine the leading region for the export of wood products and the fourth for paper-cardboard. The arrival of these multinationals proves the attractiveness of the forest massif: it has an advantage over the competition because of its absence of relief, its accessibility and its location at the heart of Europe, the leading solvent world market.
Communauté
de Communes de Mimizan - 3 avenue de la Gare - BP 44 - 40200 MIMIZAN
- FRANCE
Tel: 05.58.09.44.55 - Fax: 05.58.09.44.43 - entreprendre@mimizan.com
The Community of Communes of Mimizan is... | 
- natural brown paper for 
