Office national des forêts (ONF)

Office national des forêts (ONF) is the sole manager of public forests, i.e. forests owned by the French State and by local authorities. In France, 15,000 local authorities own forests. Every year, 700 million people visit France’s forests: in an increasingly urbanised society, the forest is a much-appreciated place for leisure.

In mainland France and in the French overseas territories, ONF employs just over 8,000 professionals. ONF manages 11 million ha out of the 25 million ha of French forest: 4.6 million ha in mainland France and 6.4 million ha overseas, mainly in Guyane. For the record, in France, 14 million hectares of forest are privately owned.

Timber production is one of ONF’s main missions. Every year, ONF sells 40% of the timber sold in France. ONF also carries out public interest missions on behalf of the French state in the fields of natural risk prevention and management (forest fire defence, mountain land restoration, coastal protection) and biodiversity protection. Tailor-made services to enhance the value of natural areas are also offered to local authorities and businesses: forestry work, planting, site rehabilitation, vegetation control, etc. And ONF offers companies the possibility to invest in concrete patronage/sponsoring operations in favour of the forest and climate change adaptation (Agir pour la Forêt). ONF has also expanded its services through various subsidiaries.

• Total forest area managed by member: 11 000 000 ha
• Total number of: employees: 8 200 people
• Annual harvest in: 4 822 000 m³