Analysis of the social acceptability of the creation of a Natura 2000 area France

Context of the service

The Natura 2000 conservation network includes areas classified due to the presence of species of "community interest", which are exceptional or threatened.

As soon as it was set up in France, the Natura 2000 network was confronted with a categorical rejection by many users of natural areas, which resulted in a drastic reduction in national conservation ambitions, but also in the adoption of the principles of subsidiarity and consensus-building.

As part of the preparation of a document of objectives, prior to the classification of the Pic Saint-Loup site of community interest as a Natura 2000 area, a diagnosis was carried out by the Biotope design office, which revealed the presence of priority habitats of community interest.

However, as the protection of some of these environments is likely to generate conflicts of use, the Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE) has been mandated to facilitate the consultations necessary for the adoption of the objectives document.

Services provided

The expert was mobilised within a multidisciplinary team of 15 people to carry out a complete study of the conditions of social acceptability of the establishment of a Natura 2000 area on the Pic Sant-Loup site of community interest:

- Political support of the Natura 2000 process by the actors involved: local authorities, decentralised State services (Prefecture, DREAL and DDTM), consular bodies and/or service companies (Chamber of Agriculture, CCI, CAUE, SAFER and CENLR), economic actors and representatives of civil society).

- Understanding of conservation issues and policies by land users: analysis of a sample of 13% of the population stratified by socio-professional category and use (hunters, fishermen, naturalists, etc.)

- Precise identification of awareness-raising needs, integrated into the diagnosis prior to the objectives document, thanks to various tools (semi-structured interviews, stakeholder maps, species identifications on a photographic, auditory or olfactory basis, landscape readings).

Summary of the service

Analysis of the social acceptability of the creation of a Natura 2000 area in the Pic Saint Loup region: Analysis of the political support of the Natura 2000 process by the actors involved; Analysis of the understanding of conservation issues and policies by land users (stratified sample of 13% of the population); Precise identification of awareness-raising needs using various tools (semi-structured interviews, stakeholder maps, species identifications on a photographic, auditory or olfactory basis, landscape readings).