Richard Fiol reappointed president of the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park

The only candidate for his succession, Nantes resident Richard Fiol remains president of the PNR Grands Causses. A.D.

The mayor of Nant succeeds one another at least until 2026, the date of new elections following the next municipal election.

Pending a ministerial decree aimed at ratifying the Charter for the period 2024-2039, the members of the PNR met on Friday morning in Saint-Rome de Tarn to elect the new office and the presidency occupied by Richard Fiol, also mayor of Nant, since September 2020. 

The only candidate, the successor of Alain Fauconnier, was confirmed in his position until 2026, the date of the next municipal elections. The names of the current members of the union committee – municipal elected officials – are likely to change the day after the future mandate. 

Change in continuity

Cantor of the "serenity" and "continuity" of the action of the Park built in program – "we did not want to get into electoral wars two years before the renewal of municipal councils"-, the new president will nevertheless be the one of change. A major change since the PNR which until then included 93 municipalities, south of Aveyron, i.e. a vast territory of 3,279 km² making it the third largest natural park in France, will push the walls towards Lodévois. 

"This modification of the study perimeter establishes the unity of Larzac and its front causses by integrating its Hérault part, which essentially corresponds to the territory of the Lodévois-Larzac community of communes, confirms the new Charter. A contribution from 26 Hérault communes for a total perimeter of 3,805 km² and a population of some 86,000 inhabitants.

Better, "this enlargement, which encroaches on the administrative border between Aveyron and Hérault and on the old regional limits, makes it possible to encompass the entire Causse du Larzac within a project territory. From the foothills of the Dourbie gorges to the canyon dug by the Vis, from the Tarn valley to the volcanic plateau of Escandorgue, the Larzac is thus seen in its unity – and, even more, in its uniqueness. ; 

Landscape preservation

Identified as a vector of environmental knowledge, a coordinating force (Grand Site Occitanie label, calls for projects on short supply chains, welcoming new residents, outdoor activities) the mixed union also has in its DNA an innovation component on a territorial scale, developing for example solutions for the transport of biomass heat networks or being a force for proposals in favor of alternative mobility.

"It thus combines its mission of preserving landscapes with a prospective for the sustainable development of South Aveyron" guiding , once the decree was definitively ratified by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the Parc des Grands Causses towards the urban area of ​​Montpellier which, to the great despair of local tourist providers, still associates this extended hinterland with a vast "no man's land" cold and barren.