Implementation of France’s National Biodiversity Strategy by the National Natural History Museum (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle or MNHN)

1.               Introduction

 

1.1            Aim

The aim is to understand how France is implementing its National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS) and more specifically how the National Museum of Natural History (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle or MNHN) is practically contributing to the strategy. The general framework of the Strategy will first be presented, before discussing the management of the MNHN and it role and objectives in France’s biodiversity management. The last part will attempt to identify the present and future challenges the institution and the National Strategy are facing.

This report is being written as the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Curitiba, Brazil, is taking place, and during the launching of The Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 at the opening session on the 20^th March 2006. 

1.2            France and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

 

The multiple ecological conditions existing within the French territory are providing to this country a particular status about biodiversity. The environmental richness of France’s terrestrial and marine ecosystems is illustrated by the four European biogeographical zones (Alps, continental, Atlantic and Mediterranean), but also by tropical and polar zones. The overseas Départments and Territories[1] (DOM-TOM) are significantly contributing to the French biological heritage, especially New Caledonia and Guyana, considered as International Biodiversity Hot-Spots.

 

From these considerations, different steps have marked a progressive recognition of the importance biodiversity by France, resulting for instance in the fundamental signature of the CBD:

 

-The recognition of the value of France’s biological richness and the quality of the landscapes, started by creation of the First French National Parks in the 1960’s (law of creation of National Parks July 1960 and First Parks in 1963).

 

-In 1964, the Ministry of Agriculture and the DATAR (Delegation for Spatial Planning and Regional Development) launched the idea to create less restrictive than National Parks Natural Parks, in rural and inhabited areas. A group, composed by architects, land-managers, associations representatives, actors and poets, empowered the design of Regional Natural Parks “à la française”, which status were finalized by General De Gaulle in 1967. The first Park was created in 1968.

 

-The establishment of the Ministry Environment in 1976 marked a significant improvement in environmental awareness and conservation in France. The governmental body, today designated as the ‘Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development’ (Ministère de l’Ecologie et du Développement Durable), is the main administrator of the NBS (see 2.2).

 

• The Nature Conservation Act (no. 76-629) adopted in 1976 and amended in 1995 by the Reinforcement of Environment Protection Act (no. 95-101), may be considered as France’s real first step for the conservation of biodiversity itself.

 

• In June 1992 at the ‘Rio de Janeiro Hearth Summit’ (or Conference on Environment and Development), France is one of the 188 countries to accept the Framework Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It was than ratified it in July 1994. The Rio Summit settled three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of it components, a fair and just sharing of the advantages provided by the use of genetic resources.

 

• At the 2002, Johannesburg World Summit, France confirmed the CBD objectives and goals. France also agreed to the common target to stop biodiversity loss by 2010. This goal, approved by all Parties to the Convention in the Hague in 2002, aims “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level, as a “contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth”. This goal is also the main framework of the European Biodiversity Strategy.

 

• At the 2005 Millennium Summit in New York, France reiterated support to the 2010 commitment.

 

This succession of stages established bases necessary to the recent establishment of a National Biodiversity Strategy.

 

2.               France’s National Biological Diversity Strategy

 

2.1     Main Goals and Objectives

 

France adopted, in February 2004, her National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS) as a positive response to the commitments of the Convention on Biodiversity, but more specifically, as a direct answer to the overall goal to “put to an end the decline of biodiversity by 2010”.

 

The key targets set by the strategy (Appendix C) are to:

 

• Maintain genetic, specific and habitat diversity

 

• Improve of the network of ecologically significant areas

 

• Maintain the diversity of landscapes improve the ecological connectivity

 Finally ensure the preservation of all functions of natural and semi natural ecosystems

 

 

 

Four overall methods have consequently been identified to halt biodiversity loss:

 

• Getting all actors involved, by participatory processes and by improving awareness and through education. This main orientation is particularly interesting because it aims to integrate the strategy into socio-economic and cultural practices, in spatial planning, and more specifically in economic activities as a whole. Agriculture forest management and fishery especially are major sectors for biodiversity (see 4.1 and 4.2).

 

• Similarly the strategy will try to Mainstream biodiversity concerns and the principals of sustainability within all public policies, nationally and internationally

 

• The value of biological diversity will be acknowledge by improving the monitoring of environmental benefits and damage

 

• Developing scientific knowledge and follow-up indicators

 

More specific action plans completing the strategy, have been published in November 2005. It is involving different sectors of activities such as agriculture, transports, urban planning or overseas development planning.

 

An interesting part of the strategy is concerning geographical priorities, especially the overseas territories (Appendix D). Besides, but also in the DOM-TOMs, the important extent of coastal and marine ecosystems in France, particularly rich in biodiversity, are also taken into account by the National Biodiversity Strategy and are considered in a specific action plan (‘Sea Action Plan’ or Plan d’action mer).

 

Accordingly, about ten objective and verifiable indicators, mainly biological, have been selected. These are based on data, either already available or under way (see 3.2). They are mainly produced and centralised by the National Natural History Museum. The action plans of the strategy will be regularly assessed every two years.

 

At last but not at least, the Strategy is National which means that it concerns the biodiversity which France is responsible for. However, the Strategy is internationally integrated as actually half of the countries ratifying the CBD have a National Strategy. The sharing of experiences and common implementation will be therefore facilitated.

 

2.2         General Implementation bodies

 

The implementation of the strategy attempts to “change focal points in each field” by making the existing policies more relevant and more efficient. However, it only relies on existing policies. No specific policy of intervention is meant to be created.

 

The French Government is delegating various missions to the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (Ministère de l’Ecologie et du Development Durable). Some major ones are concerning biodiversity and landscapes. The ministry is therefore a the centre of the NBS through the:

 

• Acknowledgement and monitoring of the ecosystems evolution
• Coordination and the coherence of the National Biodiversity Strategy and moreover of the Natural Heritage action Plan (see Electronic Appendix)
• Preservation of biological diversity, of nature and of the landscapes
• Preservation wild fauna and flora populations
• Regulation issues as hunting and the management of the wild fauna
• Control of the use and the trade of animal and vegetal species
• Coherence of the different issues about natural reserves, national parks (under direct Trusteeship) and national botanic conservatories
• Trusteeship of the Costal Conservation Agency (Conservatoire du Littoral)
• Co-Trusteeships of the National Hunt and Wild Fauna Office (Office National de la Chasse), of the National Forestry Office (Office National des Forêts), of the National Natural History Museum and Chambord

 (http://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=234)

 

In addition, the implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy has been delegated to different bodies two important issues:

 

• The National Council for sustainable development (CNDD), in partnership with the World Union for Nature Conservation (Union mondial pour la conservation de la nature or UICN-France) is the state institution where the strategies are assessed. The evolution of the orientations is also discussed. The purpose of the CNDD is to involve the Civil Society by sector or local-based orientations of the strategy, assess the action plans, and suggests priorities. The Council is composed of environmental associations, national associations of elected candidates, business representatives, worker unions and people qualified in environmental issue, and has annual meetings.

 

• The Fundamental Scientific strategy is led by the association of the French Institute of Biodiversity (IFB or Institut Français de la Biodiversité) with the National Natural History Museum. They are assigned by the permanent NBS comity and are regularly making reports to National Council for Nature Conservation (Conseil National pour la Protection de la Nature) and Scientific Council for the Natural Heritage and Biodiversity (Conseil Scientifique pour le Patrimoine Naturel et la Biodiversité).

 

A particular focus will now concern the role of the MNHN.

3.     The National Natural History Museum

3.1         History and Structure

 

France’s Natural History Museum is composed of various sites, such as different Botanic gardens (such as the ‘Jardin des Plantes’ in Paris) an arboretum, the ‘Zoological Park of Paris’, different museums and collections (biology and palaeontology), and other places all over France. It was created in 1635 as the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants (Jardin des Plantes Medicinales) and became the National Natural History Museum in 1793 with the following missions in natural and human sciences:

• Fundamental and applied research
• Conservation and extension of the collections from the natural and cultural heritage
• Teaching
• Expertise
• Diffusion of scientific knowledge to all public

 

These five functions are still the same today.

 

The MNHN is managed under the double trusteeship of the Ministries of Research and Ecology and the Ministry of Education. In short it represents:

·        77 millions euros Budget

·        Employs 1680 people including 280 professors-searchers

·        389 students (Postgraduates and PhDs)

·        7 scientific departments and 3 department of scientific propagation

·        about 2,5 million visitors per year on all sites    

 

Seven Research Departments are today specifically dedicated to the study and the management of Biodiversity:

·       Evolution and Taxonomy Dept.

·       Regulations, Development and Molecular Diversity Dept.

·       Ecology and Biodiversity Management Dept.

·       Earth History Dept.

·       Environment, Nature and Society Dept.

·       Palaeontology Dept.

 

Finally, by being the third collection of natural history in the world, the Museum is an important tool for the knowledge and the conservation of biodiversity, recognised by the European Union. Therefore, it is integrated to international cooperation programmes such as the global scientific network GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), or other European networks.

 

3.2     Role of the MNHN in the Biodiversity Strategy

 

As implicitly evocated previously, the French Natural History Museum is integrated in it National Biodiversity Strategy through different roles.

 

The creation in 1979 of ‘The Fauna and Flora Secretariat’ (Secrétariat de la Faune et de la Flore), within the National Museum of Natural History, specified the necessity to understand and to record the natural heritage, required for any successful preservation. This legacy is composed by the species, but also the habitats and the genetic collection.

 

The knowledge of specific and ecological diversity depends on national (or European) qualitative and quantitative inventories. As a result, the article L. 411-5 of the French Environmental Code gives to the MNHN “the responsibility of inventorying the natural heritage” (http://inpn.mnhn.fr/inpn/fr/inpn/index2.htm).

 

The UMS[2] ‘Inventaire et Suivi de la biodiversite’ (Inventory and Monitoring of Biodiversity) is directly collecting, coordinating and storing data, in order to establish the Inventory of the natural heritage. It is associating the French Natural History Museum with the ‘Ministry of Education and Research’ and the ‘Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development’ and the ‘National Centre for Scientific Research’ (C.N.R.S)[3]. This federating group has been developed on three pre-existing units of the MNHN, highlighting it leadership: The ‘Service of Natural Heritage’ (Service du Patrimoine Naturel), the ‘Botanic Conservatory of Paris’ and the ‘Department of Evolution of Natural and Modified Systems’. Overall, this association of competences is a particularly important body for the Implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy as it objective is to contribute to the elaboration of scientific tools and their management, in order to help and evaluate the natural heritage policies.

 

The collecting of naturalistic information is generally operated during specific inventory campaigns, limited in time but regularly updated. Associations of naturalists or public bodies as the ‘National Office for Forestry’ or ‘National Parks’ for instance, are generally involved in these inventories. A regular observation programme of the habitat and is also led by the MNHN. The first step will analyse the species and areas of the Natura 2000 network and attempt to provide evolution data. Those Data are used for the production of syntheses and thematic mappings, essential for the sustainable management of the national natural heritage and biodiversity.

 

The strategy is including a system of indicators, which is supposed to allow anyone in the community to follow the developments and results. Biological indicators such as Genetic diversity (e.g. Number of plant varieties and animal species, registered and certified for trade), Specific Diversity (Biodiversity Indices), Habitat Diversity (State of conservation of habitats), or the observation the network of ecologically important area (amount of little man-modified areas) and the functioning of the ecosystems (e.g. defoliation Tree or Standardised biological index of rivers and streams), can for instance be analysed.

 

The MNHN, national reference centre and co-leader of the Natura 2000 network, will organize and coordinate data collection. Thus, the Museum and it national and international partners are logically playing a role in the National but also European and International Biodiversity Strategies.

4.        Challenges

4.1         Coordination and Conflicts

As the strategy emphasize, the conservation of biological diversity is really challenging and must deal with different interests and different activities.

 

The cooperation and the interaction with other organizations are particularly elaborated in France. The National spatial planning Policy (Plan National) is particularly complex by involving many management plans for decentralisation purposes. The most significant are:

 

• State-Region Planning Contracts (Contrats de plan Etat-Région)
• Land Use Master Plans (Shémas diresteurs d’aménagement et d’urbanisme), Infrastructure
• Transport Master Plans (Schéma directeurs d’infrastructures de transport)
• Water Development and Management Master Plans (Schéma directeurs et de gestion des eaux).

 

It is also the case for policies based on partnerships such as Local Environment Plans (Plans départementaux ou municipaux d’environnement) and Environment Agreements (Chartes pour l’environnement), established in association with local authorities.

 

Public bodies and other institutions may also be involved such as the National Forestry Office (ONF[4]), the Hunting and Wildlife Departments or the National Coast and Lakeshore Conservation Agency (CELRL[5]).

 

Further, the conservation network is also really complex. Many areas, dedicated to conservation or of specific interests exists in France:

 

• 7 National Parks (6 in the ‘French Metropolitan Territory’, and 1 the Oversea-Department of Guadeloupe)
• 44 Regional Parks, Natural Reserves
• MAB Reserves (UNESCO Biosphere Reserves)
• Biogenetic Reserves (European Commission)
• Voluntary Natural Reserves
• Specialised Protection Zones (Bird Directive)
• APB (Arrêté Préfectoraux de Protection de Biotope)
• Ramsar sites (Convention relating to humid areas)
• National Hunt and Wildlife Reserves (RNCFS[6])
• Areas of Community Importance for the Conservation of Wild Birds (ZICO[7])
• Inventoried Natural Areas of Ecological and Wildlife Interest (ZNIEFF[8]).

 

Some of the areas listed above are directly resulting (or at least there designation) from the EU cooperation mainly under the Habitat directive and the Natura 2000 network or other International Programmes (e.g. MAB). A real evolved coordination is therefore particularly essential. The French Strategy is as a result integrating biological diversity into overseas co-operation and knowledge transfer programmes. The role of the MNHN to influence by research, education and scientific propagation, is therefore a major tool for Biodiversity strategy (every 2 year: see 2.1).

 

Agriculture, forest management and fishery are major sectors for biodiversity. Indeed the EU agri-environemental reforms, the integration of biological diversity in forest management and the question of sustainability in fishing, are significant issues for the future. The decrease of agriculture and the new role given to the modern farmers in European Union are important concerns in France, involving heavy lobbying. Hence, farmers are getting progressively more involved in the management of Biodiversity, as the National Forestry also does. But the future of these sectors and the successful conservation of biodiversity are difficult to predict.

 

 

 

4.2         Further Objectives for the MNHN and National Biodiversity Strategy? 

 

The National Biodiversity Strategy does not tackle yet some issues from the Convention on Biodiversity such as the access to genetic resources and the sharing of their benefits and the transfer of technologies, or the restoration of ecosystems. Indeed, the issue of biological technologies, was the main reason of the United States of America objections, one of the few countries that did not ratified the CBD. The enlargement of the consensus will therefore also be a challenge for the coming years.

 

The achievement of Natura 2000 European Network and the enlarged to the new EU members is a major progress in the conservation of habitats in Europe. The scheme, in which the MNHN is playing a major role, will have to be assessed.

 

Similarly, the international cooperation will have to be maintained and extended. The interactions with the agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors will also have to be developed, even if they are already mentioned in the strategy.

 

Finally, the outputs of the Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 launched at the opening session of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Curitiba, Brazil on the 20^th March 2006, will also have some results. This document presents the information and suggestions for the decisive actions necessary for achieving the ambitious 2010 Biodiversity Target. The Outlook also underlines some topic such as the role of biodiversity in mitigation of natural disasters especially flooding, agricultural biodiversity and organic agriculture.

5.        Conclusion:

 

The French National Biodiversity Strategy is extremely recent. Therefore, it seems too early to really identify any results of its implementation, particularly in regards to the goal of stopping biodiversity loss by 2010. Many aspects are also only at a theoretical stage. The 2010 target is maybe not achievable but it will initiate some changes. Secondly, the French NBS is not particularly original in the main objectives (according to the CBD implementations), but it is adapted to the county’s specificities.

 

The National Museum of Natural History represents however a key institution for the French Strategy, with a stable position concerning Biodiversity. Its approach to environmental knowledge is particularly important. It appears as a sound organisation relying on many years of expertise and on a European and an International solid reputation, based on its scientific purposes and on an impressive taxonomic collection. More specifically, the monitoring of biodiversity (specific and genetic) represents a remarkable work essential for the management of Biodiversity. In short, it is integrated in all of the National Biodiversity Strategy’s four principal orientations (2.1 and Appendix C). In addition, European and International cooperation is incorporated in the MNHN’s operating process, providing more effective tools for Conservation, according to the French Biodiversity Action Plans and the Convention on Biodiversity.

 

Yet, the Strategy document is not explicitly expressing the role of the MNHN. Some inputs may also affect on the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy. The complexities of the French conservation network, the multiplicity of public or private actors and organisations involved in the land management and the interrelations of centralised and decentralised administrations, interacting with EU agri-environmental implementations in a phase of transition, may cause some conflicts and complications.

 

Furthermore, the country’s socio-economical and political difficulties and uncertainties may have some indirect effects, especially on the funding. This reminds that conservation policies are very sensitive to national and international socio-economical and political contexts and are therefore vulnerable.

 

Nevertheless, the French National Museum of Natural History is an important and very active implementer of the National Biodiversity Strategy. Indeed, the MNHN is really attempting to “get all actors involved, to acknowledge the value of biological diversity, to bring biodiversity concerns within all public policies and for sure, to develop scientific knowledge”. Therefore, the institution is on a top level and directly implements the French Biodiversity Conservation Policy. It will also continue to have a significant role on National, European and International scales. Still, it has to be said that the role conferred to the French Museum of Natural History seem to be very similar to other comparable organizations from other countries, being part or not of the CBD. Further research in that sense would be necessary.

[1] DOM (Département d’Outre-Mer): Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, St-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Guyana, Mayotte

TOM (Territoires d’Outre-Mer): New Caledonia, Wallis-et-Futuna, French Polynesia,

[2] UMS : Unité Mixte de Suivi / Mixed Monitoring Unit  (UMR : / Mixed Research Unit)

[3] Centre National de Recherche Scientifique

[4] Office National des Forêts

[5] Conservatoire du Littoral

[6] Réserve National de Chasse et de Faune Sauvage

[7] Zone d’Importance pour la Protection des Oiseaux

[8] Zone Naturelle d’Intérêt Faunistique et Floristique