Combots d'Ansoine Forest

In the Middle Ages, the site of the Combots d'Ansoine was largely covered by a vast forest of oaks and pines called the "forest of Corles" (Corles, today Courlay, was then a small lordship). Separated from the "forest of Salis" (now the forest of La Coubre) by the cove of Brajado and the marshes of Aiguedouz (Bréjat), it borders to the north the large pond of Barbareu, a veritable inland sea punctuated by small islands, and to the south-east, the coastal forests of the surroundings of Royan (wood of Lo Defens, today of Fées, of Nauzan, etc.). Usage rights were granted to the "habitans and manans" (glandée, panage, bois-mort and mort-bois) and to the ecclesiastics of the abbey of Saint-Étienne de Vaux (foresting, for heating the oven). The clearing of certain parts of the forest, a common practice, explains the presence of small estates or villages: Notre-Dame-de-Buze, Ansoine, Maine-Gaudin...
In the 16th century, a climate change called the "Little Ice Age" led to particularly harsh winters. The need for firewood increased, and consequently, so did the harvesting of forests. Violent storms swept the coast and the combination of these different factors led to the remobilization of dune sands. From then on, the dunes began to "walk in Arvert", representing a particularly significant danger for the populations, directly (hamlets and villages submerged) or indirectly (filling of the Gulf of Barbareu. In the 17th century, part of the forest disappeared under the sands. What remained was renamed "Royan forest", from the name of the marquisate of Royan of which it constitutes the western limit (beyond, extend the lands of the barony of Arvert).
The decree of 14/12/1810 marks a turning point, as a veritable desert of sand now covers part of the Arvert peninsula. The decision was taken to seed the dunes to fix them, after acquisition of the dunes in question, or, failing that, by the owners. At Combots d'Ansoine, 543 hectares were seeded before being returned to their owners (the last ones recovering their lands in 1944).
In 1976, a violent fire ravaged the forest. Following this serious disaster, the coastal conservatory acquired several hundred hectares from 1978 (property of the Delmas family until then), and now owns a small massif of 954 hectares.