As part of the French government’s citizens’ engagement initiative, which allows citizens to raise specific topics and propose questions for debate in the French parliamentary chamber, we decided to shed light on the efforts made by farmers to better preserve biodiversity.
According to the Greenflex 2017 survey, the second greatest reason for environmental concern amongst French citizens is the loss of biodiversity. As such, many local producers are already strongly committed to protecting our natural heritage, going to great lengths to play their part, by planting flowering fallow land for instance, or setting up protective hedgerows near their agricultural land.
Such efforts allow for the preservation of rural birdlife, the safeguarding of beehive activity, as well as that of earthworms and smaller insects, not to mention the conservation of flora and fauna that are vital for the replenishment and maintenance of our local ecosystems.
That being said, such efforts are not currently well highlighted, and consumer awareness of such initiatives remains minimal. Indeed, by and large, consumers are poorly informed of the efforts made by producers who go to such great lengths.
To this end, we would like to know what measures could be taken in order to better promote such initiatives, and we would like to explore the possibility of creating a label or certification to this effect, which might very well be represented by the image of the poppy or other wildflowers.
The question was fielded by Vivien, our Biodiversity and Health Officer.
Check out the full question (only in FR) on the website of the citizens’ engagement platform.