Looking for a forest for sale in French Guiana? Amazon rainforest covers almost the whole territory, yet it is almost never for sale: the French State owns most of the land, whether the permanent forest estate managed by the Office national des forêts in the north or the Guiana Amazonian Park in the south. The private market is concentrated on the coastal strip, where people live: wooded land on the island of Cayenne, in Macouria, Montsinéry-Tonnegrande and Roura, around Kourou and Sinnamary, in the Mana and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni areas along the RN1, and less often along the RN2 towards Régina. This page adds to our national selection of woods and wooded plots for sale by focusing on that coastal market.
Sales of wooded land are more frequent here than in the French Antilles, but most involve small areas, bought to build, to farm or to enjoy a quiet carbet (the open-sided Guianese shelter) rather than to harvest timber. You will find here the land-tenure rules you need to know, the areas where a market exists and the checks to make before signing, from the title deed to clearance rules. The prices shown after this introduction are best read alongside our article on forest sale prices in the overseas territories.
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 French Guiana was €7,483/ha in 2025*, across 59 sales, with an average of €11,488/ha. The regional median sits above the national median (€4,936/ha) and changed by −53.1% over the year. Over 2020-2025, 396 sales give a median of €13,875/ha, with an average of €19,053/ha and a median plot size of 2.0 ha. For comparison, the overseas departments as a whole show a median of €8,991/ha in 2025 across 87 sales, and France as a whole €4,936/ha.
| Indicator | French Guiana |
|---|---|
| Sales 2025 | 59 |
| Median price 2025 | €7,483/ha* |
| Sales 2020-2025 | 396 |
| Median price 2020-2025 | €13,875/ha |
| Average price 2020-2025 | €19,053/ha |
| Overseas median 2025 | €8,991/ha |
| France median 2025 | €4,936/ha |
On the listings side, 59 forests and wooded properties are offered on ma-propriete.fr across France as of 2 October 2026, none in French Guiana at that date. Their median asking price is €145,750 for a median size of about 17 ha. These are asking prices for complete properties: they describe the supply on offer more than the average price of a wooded hectare. Conveyancing fees come on top of the price: our notary fee calculator lets you estimate them before making an offer.
* 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.
Behind the coastal strip, across the northern half of the territory, the permanent forest estate (domaine forestier permanent) groups forests under the public forestry regime, which the ONF manages through multi-year management plans and opens in places to logging along forest tracks; angélique is the main species harvested for timber. In the south, the Guiana Amazonian Park, created in 2007, is the largest national park in France: its core and membership area extend over the communes of Maripasoula, Papaïchton, Saint-Élie, Camopi and Saül. Nature reserves such as the Nouragues, the Trinité and the Kaw-Roura marshes complete the picture.
None of this land is for sale. In addition, collective use-right zones grant Amerindian and Bushinengue communities the use of large tracts of forest for hunting, fishing and the activities they need for their subsistence. Land tenure is changing nonetheless: the State is gradually transferring or granting land to local authorities and farmers, especially to help new farms get started.
Private supply consists mainly of plots of a few hectares covered with secondary forest, old abattis (slash-and-burn gardens) that have reverted to woodland, or the edges of the great forest, along a road or at the end of a track. Around the island of Cayenne, in Matoury, Rémire-Montjoly or Macouria, proximity to the urban area makes them first and foremost potential building plots; in Roura, Cacao or Montsinéry-Tonnegrande, they attract buyers looking for farmland or a quiet home. Further west, between Kourou, Sinnamary, Iracoubo and Mana, then around Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, supply is more scattered and access to water and electricity has to be checked case by case.
Some of this land comes from allocations of State land, for instance agricultural concessions converted into freehold once the land had been developed. Large private forest estates are rare and change hands only occasionally. Standing timber counts for little in the price: location, access and what the land can be used for make up most of the value of wooded land in French Guiana.
The Guianese coast is fringed with mangroves that advance or retreat with the mud banks carried along the shore from the Amazon. These coastal forests, like much of the coastal marshland, belong to the public domain or to protected areas. The cinquante pas géométriques zone also applies in French Guiana: along a strip measured from the shore, the land belongs to the public maritime domain, and its natural areas may be entrusted to the Conservatoire du littoral. Any plot described as seafront or riverside must therefore be checked against the cadastre and any easements before you commit.
The first check concerns title. Insist on a deed of ownership registered with the land registry (service de la publicité foncière): land still held under a concession, a simple occupation permit or occupied without title cannot be sold to you as freehold. Have the plot surveyed by a géomètre-expert and check on site that it is not occupied or farmed by someone else, a common situation on the outskirts of towns. Check access in the rainy season too: a track that is passable in October can become impassable in May.
Clearance follows a specific regime of the French forestry code in French Guiana, whose application to private woodland depends on perimeters set by the authorities: consult the regional agriculture and forestry directorate (DAAF) before any clearing. Other rules apply in any case, such as species protection, a possible environmental assessment for large areas and the zoning of the local development plan. Wooded land zoned as natural or agricultural does not necessarily allow you to build a house: our article can you build in a forest? explains the rules, and our guide to buying woodland walks you through the purchase.
Listings of wooded land in French Guiana on ma-propriete.fr come from private sellers, estate agents or notaires; they remain few in number. To save time, you can submit a request to be put in touch describing your project, set up an alert by size and budget, or widen your search to all the forests and forest estates on the market.
