Looking for a forest for sale in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence? It is one of the most wooded departments in the region, and its forest, shared between private owners, communes and the State, has spread widely over former grazing land. In the south, around Forcalquier, Manosque and the Verdon, downy oak and Scots pine woods stretch between lavender fields and hills. In the north, from the Digne Pre-Alps to the Ubaye valley, pine gives way to larch and fir. People buy woodland here to heat their homes, to hunt, to surround a house or to build up a woodland holding that pays its way.
The listings published here come from private sellers, estate agents and notaires. Before comparing them, use the prices actually paid in the department, shown just below, then our pointers: pine wood versus oak wood, the main areas, brush-clearing duties and access. If your plans include a cabin or a chalet, first read our article can you build in a forest?, because the answer is almost always restrictive.
According to the ma-propriete.fr forest price observatory, built from sales recorded in the French DVF land registry database, the median price of a hectare of forest in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence was €1,351/ha in 2025*, across 46 sales, with an average of €2,165/ha. That puts the department below the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur median (€4,854/ha) and below the national median (€4,936/ha). Compared with 2024, the median changed by −11.5%, a movement to interpret with care given the number of sales. Over the more robust 2020-2025 period, 234 sales give a median of €1,518/ha for a median plot size of 8.0 ha.
| Indicator | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) | Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur | France |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median price 2025 | €1,351/ha* | €4,854/ha | €4,936/ha |
| Average price 2025 | €2,165/ha* | €7,876/ha | €6,214/ha |
| Number of sales 2025 | 46 | 346 | 6,329 |
| Change in median 2024 → 2025 | −11.5%* | −15.9% | +1.9% |
| Median price 2020-2025 | €1,518/ha | €5,207/ha | €4,778/ha |
| Number of sales 2020-2025 | 234 | 2,101 | 35,100 |
On the listings side, 59 forests and wooded properties are offered on ma-propriete.fr across France as of 2 October 2026, 3 of them in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Their median asking price is €145,750 for a median size of about 17 ha. These asking prices apply to complete properties, often with buildings, a pond or hunting rights: they cannot be compared directly with DVF medians per hectare. To work out the full cost of a purchase, add the conveyancing fees with our notary fee calculator.
* 30 to 99 sales: indicative value. Source: DVF (French tax authority), processed by ma-propriete.fr; forests of 1 ha or more, cadastral type woodland; July 2020 to December 2025; Moselle, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin are not covered by DVF. Listings recorded on ma-propriete.fr on 2 October 2026.
Scots pine and downy oak, known locally as white oak, are the department’s two main species. The pine has colonised the slopes of the Digne Pre-Alps, the Seyne area and the Durance valley; the oak forms open coppices around Forcalquier and Banon and in the eastern Luberon, long cut for firewood. On the Montagne de Lure, beech takes over on the coolest slopes, while in the Ubaye and the upper Verdon around Allos, larch and Swiss stone pine dominate the high forests.
The forest landscape also bears the stamp of mountain land restoration (restauration des terrains en montagne). Around Digne-les-Bains, the Brusquet basin was replanted from the late nineteenth century, mainly with Austrian black pine, to halt the erosion of the black marls; these protection stands, still monitored by researchers, are a reminder that a wood here is judged as much on its role as on its timber volume. The Luberon and Verdon regional nature parks also cover part of the south of the department.
Sales here often involve larger areas than in the northern Alps: a hillside of oak and pine around a farmhouse, a private forest block shared between heirs, a few dozen hectares of pine on the edge of a plateau. Timber value is generally modest; the price of a forest estate depends mainly on access, on water, buildings or farmland, and on its interest for hunting.
Wild boar are plentiful in these wooded hills, and red deer, chamois and mouflon roam the northern massifs: properties bought primarily for hunting appear on our page of hunting properties in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Private ponds are very rare apart from a few reservoirs and basins; existing offers are grouped with the ponds and water features in the department. To compare with higher larch woods, see woodland for sale in Hautes-Alpes.
Fire risk is the first issue to address. Statutory brush-clearing obligations (obligations légales de débroussaillement) apply in exposed communes, from Manosque to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie: anyone who owns a building must clear vegetation within 50 metres, sometimes extended to 100 metres by the mayor, including on neighbouring land. A wood on the edge of a hamlet therefore often bears this work, and an isolated building in the middle of a pine wood requires regular upkeep. Ask the town hall and the seller about the obligations attached to the property.
Then look at access: forest tracks, fire-defence tracks (pistes DFCI) that may burden the land with an easement, and routes passable by a timber lorry. On the marl slopes, erosion and gullying sometimes limit felling. For a wood under 4 ha, notify adjoining woodland owners of their right of first refusal; from 20 ha upwards, ask for the approved management plan. Finally, have the Scots pines inspected: repeated droughts and mistletoe weaken them on the hottest slopes.
The woodland listings for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on ma-propriete.fr are placed by private sellers, estate agents and notaires from the department and beyond. Narrow the list by size, budget or area, switch on an alert to hear about new properties, or publish the listing for your own wooded property. To compare with Var, Vaucluse or Hautes-Alpes, see all our woods and forests for sale in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
