Implementation of Natura 2000 in private forests: an example in the northern part of France

Abstract

Implementing the Habitats directive (Natura 2000) has raised in France an awareness for which private forest professional organisations played a major role. Two examples of Natura 2000 sites including private forests in the North of France (Oise river valley, a pilot site, and Lucheux forest) are discussed and show remaining difficulties: a major uncertainty associated to the double obligation of means and results imposed to the member states by the article 6 of the directive; the high costs of nature conservation actions, which will always be, at the end, a charge for the taxpayer; the temptation of the regulation way is never satisfying. It remains, for the future, an essential question that one should answer before going on with the implementation of the directive: how sustainable can a non-profit management be?