LANDEV - Land property and EnVironmental contracts in agriculture

The objective of our exploratory project is to study how land ownership influences contractual practices within the framework of these contracts and to propose a reflexive analysis of contract terms and specifications with an environmental focus when they impact the rights of the landowner, as the main manager (landowner-farmer or non-farmer landowner of natural areas that are not used for agriculture) or as the lessor of a farm tenant. The project is based on the observation that contractual practices affecting landowners, both public and especially private, are still insufficiently documented.

Approaches

Among the various contractual objects identified as areas of investigation when the research project was designed, the LANDEV project team focused on an exploratory study of practices relating to real environmental obligations, due to the sharp acceleration of these local initiatives over the last three years. The research focused on identifying and analysing case studies relating to conservation easements (« obligations réelles environnementales » in French law), in partnership with organisations particularly involved in the governance of these contractual initiatives, in particular the French Office for Biodiversity and the Federation of Nature Conservatories. One of our objectives was to analyse the construction of specifications and the variability of contractual obligations identified through case studies, focusing on the assumptions that guide their adoption, the known inflections in the negotiation process and their expected impact on natural environments and the multifunctionality of landscapes. We also aimed to assess how the stakeholders involved perceived the tool, with a view to explaining the degree to which it has been adopted and mobilised by them.

From a social science perspective, we focused on the profile of the landowners involved, the multi-stakeholder governance of contractual arrangements, and the geographical characteristics of the areas concerned. From an ecological science perspective, we examined the nature of the contractual commitments, taking into account the types of natural environments concerned and the conservation or restoration actions envisaged.

Results

The conservation easements studied contribute to broadening and diversifying the range of actors involved in the preservation of natural environments. In some cases, they enable the mobilisation of private landowners, notaries, and nature conservation associations.

Work carried out on the methods of involvement of local authorities shows that conservation easments are used in this context to serve a variety of strategies: protecting biodiversity, but also preserving the quality and quantity of water resources, and supporting local agricultural projects based on public land ownership.

Finally, we analysed the influence of conservation easements on the territorial governance of ecological compensation. We highlight the ambivalent role of this legal tool: it brings innovation in terms of duration, contractualisation and diversification of actors, but is also limited by ecological gains that are still perceived as low by most of the stakeholders surveyed. This legal tool has certain limitations related to the ability of stakeholders to make a long-term collective commitment and to manage potential difficulties, such as tensions between parties, the disappearance of stakeholders, the effects of climate change, or other unforeseen events.

Despite these limitations, these contracts encourage cooperation and sometimes promote the emergence of new skills among private landowners, associations and local authorities in the field of nature conservation and restoration.

Participants

Structures INRAE

• UMR SADAPT - Sciences pour l'action et le développement : activités, produits, territoires
• UMR BAGAP - Biodiversité, agroécologie et aménagement du paysage
• UMR Innovation 
• UMR Agroécologie
• UMR SMART - Structures et marchés agricoles, ressources et territoires

Partenaire externe

• Fédération des conservatoires d'espaces naturels