Francis Hallé

Francis Halle
EmployerUniversity of Montpellier
OrganizationTropical Botany Association
Websitehttps://www.foretprimaire-francishalle.org/english/

Francis Hallé (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃sis ale]; 15 April 1938 – 31 December 2025) was a French botanist, biologist, illustrator, and academic professor.[1]

He was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Montpellier,[2] and a specialist on tropical rainforests - extensively describing what he described as "tree architecture,"[3] a body of work illustrating and describing plant morphology. Hallé conducted extensive field work across Africa, Asia, America, and Oceana.[1] He is perhaps best known for his observations on the "Radeau des cimes" ("Raft of the peaks"), where alongside a balloon pilot and an architect he made observation-based illustrations on the ecosystem and structure of the tree canopy in an aerostatic balloon.[1][4] This method allowed him to observe tropical microclimates by non-invasive means.[1]

In 2010, he and Luc Jacquet started to collaborate for a Wild-Touch film project, La Forêt des pluies, a documentary about primary forests.

Hallé died in 2025, at the age of 87.[5]

The Raft of The Peaks (Radeau des Cimes) on an excursion in Guyane.

Bibliography

  • Tropical Trees and Forests, An Architectural Analysis, 1978
  • In Praise of Plants, 2002
  • A World Without Winter: The Tropics, Nature and Societies, 2014
  • Atlas of Poetic Botany, 2018

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Butler, Rhett. "Francis Hallé, the botanist who took a raft into the rainforest canopy". news.mongabay.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  2. ↑ "Celebrated tropical botanist delivers last Centenary lecture" (PDF). web.up.ac.za/ (University of Pretoria). Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology". agropolis.fr. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Botanist raises study for the forest from the air in Chile". bluechannel24.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Disparition Mort du biologiste Francis Hallé, grand défenseur des forêts primaires
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