The political upheavals of 1870 and the suppression of the Gard Reforestation Service briefly distracted attention from the Aigoual forest.

The 1870 defeat at least had one good result ; scientific research was taken more seriously. People became interested in the upper atmosphere and many mountain observatories were built.

At the same time, from 1879 the idea of Aigoual as a strategic centre for meteorology and forestry became current. The scientific community appreciated the project's importance; one of them was Georges FABRE.
He proposed creating an experimental forest and meteorology station on Aigoual for the rapid reforestation of dry Cévenol hillsides, presenting his project 6th June 1882. This was considered too ambitious and suffered many modifications.

In 1887 his cause had finally been headed, and construction work on the Observatory began 17th June.