Four members of the Effective Nature Laws team attended the 2019 Salon de l’Agriculture de Nouvelle Aquitaine, the second biggest agricultural festival in France, to complete surveys and interviews with French farmers. As the project is taking Ireland, France and the Netherlands as comparative studies, it was vital to include French farmers’ perspective on EU nature laws. In 2018, the ENL team attended the 2018 Ploughing Championships to hear Irish farmers’ views and experiences with environmental laws in practice.
The team travelled from Dublin to Bordeaux by rail and sail, landing in the city one day before the event started, and participated in the event from June 1st – 3rd.
Crossing the English Channel to France.
We were very lucky to have the opportunity to share a stand with Bordeaux Sciences Agro, the national school of agricultural engineering in France. Farmers were offered a complimentary box of Butlers toffees for their time.
Surveys and interviews were carried out with farmers and breeders from all over France, though predominantly from the Nouvelle Aquitaine region. The region boasts over two hundred Natura2000 sites, making it an important region for the protection of habitats and species.
Farmers gave their opinions on the effectiveness of nature laws in France, and the roles of different actors in the implementation of these laws.
The team then travelled to Paris to interview the l’Agence Régionale de la Biodiversité, as another key actor in the governance of French environmental protection. The following day, the team interviewed the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux Normandie, and the France Nature Environnement – PACA. One team member is still in France, and will soon attend Les Assises Nationale de la Biodiversité to meet with other environmental NGO’s and key stakeholders in environmental protection in France.
Two team members at our stand, inviting farmers to give their opinions on nature laws through surveys and interviews.