Our purpose
The aim of terres à Terre is to reestablish an axis of cohabitation between humans and the rest of the living world, spanning the south of France from the Alps to the Pyrenees, by allowing nature to reclaim previously degraded or destroyed areas.
We want to create a true corridor of free movement for fauna and flora rather than islands of biodiversity that have little resilience to the threats they face, and in this way encourage the spontaneous return of species to previously impoverished lands.
The aim of terres à Terre is to reestablish an axis of cohabitation between humans and the rest of the living world, spanning the south of France from the Alps to the Pyrenees, by allowing nature to reclaim previously degraded or destroyed areas.
We want to create a true corridor of free movement for fauna and flora rather than islands of biodiversity that have little resilience to the threats they face, and in this way encourage the spontaneous return of species to previously impoverished lands.
Why act between the Alps and the Pyrenees?
Exceptionally rich biodiversity
The south of France is one of the world's 25 global biodiversity hotspots4. Human activities have overexploited this area and only the Alps in the east and the Pyrenees in the west, where most National Parks are located, now benefit from a protected status.
A context conducive to driving change
A large proportion of agricultural land in the south of France is destined to be abandoned in the coming years5. This is an opportunity to promote the transition from intensive land use to one that respects future generations.
Figure A: Map of France illustrating the high renaturation potential of the corridor between the Alps and the Pyrenees. This is where terres à Terre is creating its wildlife corridor. This map was generated using data from the IUCN's CartNat project6.
High renaturation potential
The axis between the Alps and the Pyrenees is also one of the areas with the highest potential for renaturation in Europe. Degraded land in the south of France could be reconverted to forest within just thirty years, by spontaneously allowing natural processes to run their course7.
Our method: renaturation
Renaturation describes the process of allowing natural processes to return to degraded areas.
This process requires, among other things, a rethinking of the relationship between man and nature in order to move from intensive exploitation to human activitiesthat respect the equilibrium of the living world..
This non-interventionist approach is complemented by the monitoring of measurable parameters such as the number of species within a sector, or forest cover area.
Our Actions
We work on two fronts to achieve our rewilding goals:
1° Land acquisition
Direct land acquisition offers multiple advantages. The areas that are obtained are often larger than land belonging to individuals, and on a single site. This allows us to create a continuous corridor undisturbed and hospitable to life. The location of the acquired land is also chosen to benefit the most living beings and complements the pieces of land that individuals are able to provide to nature. Finally, land acquisition is a sustainable and non-revocable means of protecting land available to life.
2° Partnership agreements
Landowners willing to rewild part or the entirety of their land and looking for scientific and/or practical support, can partner up with terres à Terre. Management agreements are then written on an individual basis to take into account the requirements of each owner and to define actions that may take place on the land.
Partnership agreements and land acquisitions go hand in hand: partnerships allow individual land owners to join our wildlife corridor and land acquisition allows us to anchor our actions in the long term.
Our Actions
We work on two fronts to achieve our rewilding goals:
1° Land acquisition
Direct land acquisition offers multiple advantages. The areas that are obtained are often larger than land belonging to individuals, and on a single site. This allows us to create a continuous corridor undisturbed and hospitable to life. The location of the acquired land is also chosen to benefit the most living beings and complements the pieces of land that individuals are able to provide to nature. Finally, land acquisition is a sustainable and non-revocable means of protecting land available to life.
2° Charters and management agreements
Landowners willing to rewild part or the entirety of their land and looking for scientific and/or practical support, can partner up with terres à Terre. This partnership comprises the signature of two documents. The charter is our ‘one size fits all’ document laying down the foundations of a partnership with us. It represents a moral commitment between the individual and our organisation. Management agreements are then written on an individual basis to take into account the requirements of each owner and to define actions that may take place on the land.
You can find our charter here and an example of a management agreement here.
Management agreements and land acquisition therefore go hand in hand. Management agreements allow us to help individuals to directly address the problem of habitat loss through their own means, and land acquisition allows us to anchor our actions for life in the long term.
The terres à Terre foundation
Ensuring the lasting impact of your support
Renaturation actions are set in the long term. Indeed, it takes decades for nature to noticeably reclaim previously degraded land. Moreover, it is essential to continue to protect renatured lands for the benefit of our actions to be irreversible. This is what creating a foundation will achieve.
To create this foundation, terres à Terre must acquire the status of "charity of public interest", qui requiert un minimum de 200 adhérents et un budget minimum de 46.000 euros. Aidez-nous à atteindre ces objectifs !
If you would rather become a member without using online transactions please download our membership form here.
Renaturation actions are set in the long term. Indeed, it takes decades for nature to noticeably reclaim previously degraded land. Moreover, it is essential to continue to protect renatured lands for the benefit of our actions to be irreversible. This is what creating a foundation will achieve.
To create this foundation, terres à Terre must acquire the status of "charity of public interest", qui requiert un minimum de 200 adhérents et un budget minimum de 46.000 euros. Aidez-nous à atteindre ces objectifs !
If you would rather become a member without using online transactions please télécharger notre bulletin d’adhésion ici.
Join us!
87% of French people are willing to do more to protec nature8. We offer you several options to act at your level.
- UICN Comité français, OFB et MNHN (2020), La Liste rouge des espèces menacées en France : 13 ans de résultats. Paris. France.
- UICN Comité français, OFB et MNHN (2020), La Liste rouge des espèces menacées en France : 13 ans de résultats. Paris. France.
- Schuh, B. et al. 2020, Research for AGRI Committee – The challenge of land abandonment after 2020 and options for mitigating measures, European Parliament, Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies, Brussels
- Myers et al. 2000, Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853-858.
- Navarro et Pereira. 2012, Rewilding Abandoned Landscapes in Europe. Ecosystems 15, 900–912.
- Guetté, Carruthers-Jones et Carver. 2021. Sous le financement du Comité français de l’UICN, le WWF et WildEurope Initiative.
- Verburg et Overmars. 2009, Combining top-down and bottom-up dynamics in land use modeling: exploring the future of abandoned farmlands in Europe with the Dyna-CLUE model. Landscape Ecol 24, 1167.
- Résultats du sondage du Comité français de l'Union mondiale pour la nature (UICN) et du magazine "Terre Sauvage" de décembre 2005