Laurent Wauquiez cuts subsidies to Miribel-Jonage Park
Laurent Wauquiez has decided to redirect all of the European subsidies dedicated to Natura 2000 for the benefit of the agricultural sector. This decision will impact the 266 protected sites in the Region, including the Miribel-Jonage park near Lyon.
A source of freshness for bathers and a place of inventory for naturalists, the Miribel-Jonage park combines natural, agricultural and tourist activities upstream of Lyon. A harmony made possible thanks to its Natura 2000 classification, which oblige the associations, farmers and elected officials who share the land to harmonize their activities so as not to disrupt biodiversity. This balance could be coming to an end: the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region is preparing to eliminate European funding dedicated to Natura 2000.
the 3DS law (differentiation, Since decentralization, deconcentration and simplification) of February 21, 2022, the Regions have recovered the powers and subsidies associated with the ecological transition, which are given priority by the State. Among them, the envelope of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) finances a range of projects: establishment of farmers, research, adaptation to climate change, protection and preservation of Natura 2000 areas.
The Region says to redirect credits: “In favor of farmers”
To everyone’s surprise, the president of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez has decided to redirect all of these European funds to the agricultural sector. His wardrobe: explains
“The Region has chosen to earmark these credits, part of which previously benefited Natura 2000 areas, in favor of our farmers. There is therefore no “loss of subsidy” but a redeployment of credits to give priority in particular to aid granted for the installation of young farmers, a unanimously recognized priority, and to agricultural investments, which are essential both to the competitiveness of farms but also their adaptation to climate change and allow the development of local job-creating production. »
According to the president’s entourage, this decision would be the consequence of the choices of the State:
“Following the arbitrations rendered by the State, the amount of EAFRD credits authorized to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region for Lyon, for the 2023-2027 programming period, is down by more than 20% compared to the reference years of the previous programming period. »
In a recording released by Reporterre, Laurent Wauquiez indicates in the closed session of the permanent commission of the regional council of March 18, 2022 a second motivation for elected environmentalists:
“In your defense of Natura 2000 credits, objectively, we were on the verge of fictitious employment. (…) You have salaried people, who receive public subsidies, and who are then the backbone of your electoral campaigns. »
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is the only region in France to deprive the Natura 2000 program of its European funds. From 2024, the 266 locations concerned will suffer sharp cuts in their budgets. Near Lyon, the 2,200 hectares of the Miribel-Jonage park, classified as a Natura 2000 area, will suffer the full impact.
A Natura 2000 site with an “exceptional” heritage
L’National inventory of natural heritage details the range of riches of the park:
“This site is exceptional because it still shelters rare environments, witnesses of what the natural river was like before its development. The Miribel canal, simply lined with riprap, has over the decades regained an invented physiognomy favorable to a large number of fish species. »
The naturalists have made an inventory of the lamprey of Planer, apron du Rhône, common sculpin, bouvières, blageon, toxostome… At nightfall, walkers can come across beavers and several varieties of European bats.
Vice-President Environment at Lyon Metropolis, Pierre Athanaze lists the riches of the Miribel-Jonage park:
“We have wetlands, a marsh, and dry grasslands rich in orchids and reptiles, managed in eco-pastures with local breeders. Many species of wild birds can be observed there: European bee-eaters, aquatic warblers, warblers, reeds, etc. It is an important wintering site! »
A reservoir of biodiversity, which the members of the mixed union of Miribel-Jonnage were surprised to see deprived of its subsidies. Neither they nor the other Natura 2000 players in the Region were notified directly of this decision. All carefully avoid directly criticizing this choice. Several interlocutors of Rue89Lyon confide fear that too virulent opposition will hinder future dialogues with the community, particularly concerning the negotiations of regional subsidies.
“On one already lost 80% of bees and bumblebees. If nothing is done, all will disappear by the end of the century. »
On the ground, this budget cut will impact the part-time work of the Natura 2000 facilitator on Miribel-Jonage. On a daily basis, he is responsible for ensuring the balance of the park’s biodiversity, preserving the quality of the water in the Rhône, and reconciling human activities and natural areas. Guardians of ecosystems, these technicians are also diplomats of rurality. It is up to them to bring together farmers, associations and elected officials to jointly develop the future of these protected areas.
This mission at a price: 21,100 € for the year 2021, indicates a member of the mixed union of Miribel-Jonage.
Pierre Athanze specifies:
“We are less impacted than the conservatories of natural spaces and associations in the region, which will bear the brunt of this decision. But we are on a fragile financial balance: we will have to find new funding. »
The elected ecologist, former national secretary of France nature environnement (French federation of associations for the protection of nature and the environment), particularly fears the impact that pollinating insects sheltered in the dry lawns of the park and other sites will suffer. Natura 2000 in the region:
“On one already lost 80% of bees and bumblebees. If nothing is done, all will disappear by the end of the century. Or, all crops need pollinating insects. When we see the collapse of biodiversity, accentuated this year by extreme weather conditions, and it was in that year that Laurent Wauquiez decided to attack the credits which make it possible to measure the balance, it is inconsistent. As if breaking the thermometer stopped the pollution. »