Lodévois and Larzac are part of the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park

Le Larzac, trait d'union entre nord et sud du Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses. JM – JM

Les communes du Lodévois et Larzac sont désormais intégrées au Parc naturel Régional des Grands Causses. Celui-ci devient le deuxième plus grand parc naturel régional de France.

Change of year… and perimeter. Since January, the municipalities of Lodévois and Larzac have joined the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park. An extension which should make the PNRGC, divided between southern Aveyron and, now, northern Hérault, up to the banks of Salagou*, the second largest Regional Park in France, after that of the Volcanoes d'Auvergne and ahead of the Corsica Regional Park by a short head. So much for the dimensions, which, admittedly, don't matter much. Because the essential thing is elsewhere.

Unify Larzac

Prior to the development of the charter, a socio-economic, agricultural, natural, landscape diagnosis… was established. And for many, evolution seems quite logical, natural. Particularly at the Larzac level,  today fully integrated into the PNRGC in its landscape unity. "The fact of unifying the Larzac is indeed quite a reflection old", agrees Sébastien Pujol, new director of the park created in 1995, at a time when Aveyron and Hérault weren' #39;did not belong to the same large region of Occitanie (born in 2016 from the union of Languedoc Roussilon and Midi Pyrénnées-Editor's note.) Beyond Larzac, "there are other concordances, we find the ruffes of Salagou on the Rougier of Camarès, the town of Lodève also has similarities with Millau…&quot ;

Tourism and outdoor activities

Tourism side, in addition to the landscape dimension,"we work a lot on the development of outdoor activities, we are in a practical territory. And users practice both on the old perimeter of the park and on that of the Comcom du Lodévois and Larzac. We began to discuss these practices and the promotion of heritage. These are subjects that we can address together. There are continuities, we already have projects like the Grande Traversée du Massif Central by mountain bike which concerns both territories. We have also worked a lot with the Syndicat Mixte du Grand site de Navacelles and that of Salagou, we are trying to see how the projects of each are complementary to work together on these subjects in terms of tourism development."

The park digs the furrow of the agricultural section

In an eminently rural territory, "the first pillar of economic development lies essentially in agriculture, particularly around the AOC Roquefort . The territory includes 1,800 farms and 60% of these farms produce milk which is used in Roquefort." Some of these farms are located in the ;Hérault,"this is a subject that we will work on together. We are also working, as part of a Territorial Food Project, on supporting producers, particularly in short circuits, on the circular economy…"

Common challenges

Point of rupture, through this evolution, "we remain in continuity. We continue important work on the issues of energy transition, mobility, food, tourism development without forgetting, and this is one of the primary missions of the parks: protection and development natural heritage, in particular actions around the protection of biodiversity since we are Natura  2,000 bearers in our territory".The management and qualitative and quantitative monitoring of water resources are also part of the challenges. And the new charter emphasizes two major challenges: adaptation of the territory to climate change and attractiveness and societal development. Two major issues, too, for Lodévois and Larzac.

The PNRGC therefore increased from 93 municipalities to 109; it now includes eight communities of municipalities and an area of ​​3,800 square kilometers. "Today we are moving to a total population  of approximately 86,000 inhabitants, integrating 14,000 inhabitants of Lodévois and Larzac", calculates Sébastien Pujol. Celles, Le Bosc and Le Puech, communities bordering Lake Salagou, are now part of the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park.

A new charter

Sébastien Pujol, director of the park, specifies the contours of one of the evolution: "This new perimeter was é validated by all state services. We have been working on this project to revise the Park charter for 5 years. In this context, from the start, the territory of Lod&vois and Larzac had approached us with a view to integrating them into the park.& ;quot;Of the 28 municipalities of this Com com, 26 of them are integrated into the perimeter of the park (which already included ; 93 municipalities in Aveyron). With the exception of Romiguières and Roqueredonde already included in the Haut Languedoc Regional Natural Park. Although validated by state services and voted on, at the end of 2023, by the Comcom du Lodévois and Larzac, the extension must still obtain the formal agreement of the head of government. Jean-Luc Requi, president of Comcom du Lod&vois and Larzac, believes that this integration "will bring us engineering, &agrav; the map, in many areas. It's very flexible and the subjects are diverse, the field of action is very vast." L&#39 ;example of other municipalities already members could be transposed in Lod&vois and Larzac and the starting point of this integration "it'éwas that Larzac mé The southern region of Larzac, which has specificities in common with northern Larzac, can benefit from the experience of the region. knowledge of the Park on issues that it already deals with. on the tray. And this also concerns all of the municipalities in the community…"

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