Farmers' blockades: snail operation of Rural Coordination, from the Mende entrances to the French Biodiversity Office

La Coordination rurale 48 prévoit une nouvelle action à Mende. Midi Libre – Michel Pieyre

La Coordination rurale ne désarme pas. Ce vendredi 2 février 2024, elle ressort ses tracteurs direction l'OFB, rue de la Garenne, à Mende.

The Lozère Rural Coordination (CR 48) is not disarming after the second series of announcements from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. This Friday, February 2, 2024, it is organizing a new demonstration from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., in accordance with the declaration filed with the Mende prefecture. A snail operation is thus planned, before a joint arrival in front of the French Biodiversity Office (OFB).  

Farmers' anger against the OFB

The government announced that it wanted to put the OFB under the supervision of the prefects. This public establishment of the State, a sort of environmental police, focuses the anger of certain farmers. "It’is a aberration. With this placing under supervision, the control agents of the OFB would become the puppets of the prefect, who is known to have little enthusiasm for environmental policies and the propensity to minimize these issues for the benefit of certain people. local economic and agricultural interests", testified Véronique Caraco-Giordano, general secretary of the National Union of the Environment (SNE) to our colleagues at Reporterre.&nbsp ;

On Friday January 26, CR 48 had already demonstrated in Mende, in front of the Departmental Directorate of Territories (DDT), the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA) and the Chamber of Agriculture. An action, which had left traces, while slurry had notably been dumped on the DDT.