As part of the French government’s citizens’ engagement initiative, which allows citizens to raises 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, and how this should be certified and recognised (check out the question we fielded here).
We’re happy to report that our contribution was selected for discussion!
A big thanks to MP Matthieu Orphelin, from the Maine-et-Loire region, for taking an interest in the topic we raised and for helping to publish our question in the French parliament’s official gazette. This is the question in its official guise:
Mr. Matthieu Orphelin would like to draw the Minister for the Environment’s attention to the greater recognition of efforts made to protect biodiversity. This question has been fielded on behalf of youth movement Les Climat’Optimistes via the governement’s citizens’ engagement platform.
Many farmers have taken a multitude of initiatives in order to better preserve our natural heritage, through the cultivation of flowering fallow land for instance, the planting of grass strips or indeed the implementation of hedge lines close to their own agricultural land. Efforts such as these allow for the protection of everyday birdlife in rural areas, the safeguarding of beehive activity, as well as that of earthworms and smaller insects, not to mention the preservation of flora and fauna that is vital to the replenishment and maintenance of 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.
One way in which this could be remedied is to indicate more explicitly on food labels that such actions have been taken, thus educating consumers on the existence and benefits of such initiatives and raising consumer awareness about such preservation efforts generally.
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.
Check out or question on the website of the French parliament (only in FR)