Plant Conservation in France

National Red Data Books

Livre Rouge de la Flore Menacé de France, I. Espéces Prioritaires. L. Olivier, J.-P. Galland, H. Nmaurin & P.-P. Roux (Eds.) Pp. 486. 1995. Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Conservatoire Botanique National de Porquerolles & Ministère de l’Environnement, Paris. A second volume is projected to cover “espèces à surveiller”.

Inventaire des plantes protégées en France. Philippe Danton & Michel Baffray. Pp. 294. 1995. Editions Nathan, Paris, & Association Française pour la Conservation des Espèces Végétales. A summary of the 429 higher plant species protected by law in France, with a colour photograph and drawing of each.

A useful review of progress is provided in: Les Plantes Menacées de France. (Bulletin de la Société Botanique de Cente-Ouest, numéro special 19). Pp. 616. 1999. Jean-Yves Lesouef (ed). Available (FF 264, incl. p.&p.) from Conservatoire Botanique National de Brest, 52 Allée du Bot, 29200 Brest (fax +33-98-41-57-21).

Inventaire des espèces rares ou menacées de la Corse. J. Gamisans, M. Conrad & L. Olivier (Eds).1981. Conservatoire Botanique de Porquerolles, Hyères.

L’inventaire et la protection des plantes rares en Corse. M. Muracciole & J. Gamisans. 1994. In Chauvet, M. (Ed), Plantes sauvages menacées de la France. Bilan et protection. Actes du Colloque de Brest, 8–10 Octobre, 1987. Pp. 23–29. Bureau des ressources génétiques, Paris.

Regional Red Data Books

Livre rouge synoptique de la flore vasculaire du Nord/Pas-de-Calais. Frédéric Hendoux, Benoit Toussaint & Benoit Destiné (Eds). Pp. 71. 2001. CRP-CBNB.

Floras (Corsica only, so far)

Catalogue de la Flore de la Corse. Jacques Gamisans. 1993.

La Flore Endémique de la Corse. Jacques Gamisans & Jean-François Marzocchi. Pp. 208. 1996. Édisud. Describes and illustrates 200 plant endemics, grouped by habitats.

Vegetation

Largely an agricultural landscape, especially in north and west-central regions. About a quarter of total land area (c. 140,000 sq. km) is under forest, comprising two-thirds deciduous broadleaved (two-thirds of which is coppice) and one-third evergreen. The 4 main montane areas of Pyrenees, Massif Central, Alps and Jura support a notable alpine flora. Dry grassland is still extensive, but is shrinking fast due to agricultural change; valuable areas remain in the Jura, pre-Alps, Quercy and the Causses. On the south coast, Mediterranean influences present (Quercus ilex, Q. pubescens, Q. ilex) with garique and diminishing areas of maquis. (Paragraph reproduced with permission from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Corsica: Coastal and lowland vegetation much modified by agriculture and tourism but maquis still widespread up to 800 m, especially on siliceous soils, with scattered oaks (Quercus ilex, Q. suber) and pine (Pinus halepensis). In the supra-mediterranean zone (800–100 m), mixed deciduous and evergreen woodland (Q. pubescens, Pinus nigra ssp. laricio, Castanea sativa); in the mountain zone (1000–1700 m), mainly forest of beech and pine (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio); in the north a subalpine zone (1600–2100 m) with white fir (Abies alba) or bushland with alder; in the south, at 1800–2200 m, shrub belt with juniper; alpine belt (above 2100 m) of species-rich grassland. (Paragraph reproduced with permission from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Plant Conservation Programmes

The principal agencies for plant conservation in France are the Conservatoires Nationaux Botaniques (CBN), set up by the Ministry of the Environment in the different regions of France linked through the Fédération des conservatoires botaniques nationaux (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, 5231 Paris Cedex 05). Each carried out an integrated programme of in situ and ex situ conservation for selected endangered plants in their region. The CBN are:

Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris

Conservatoire botanique national alpin de Gap, Domaine de Charance, 05000 Gap

Conservatoire botanique national de Bailleul, Hameau des Haendries, 59270 Bailleul

Conservatoire botanique national de Brest, 52 allée du Bot, 29200 Brest

Conservatoire botanique national du Massif Central, Le Bourg, 43230 Chavaniac-Lafayette

Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles, Castel Sainte-Claire, Rue Sainte-Claire, 83400 Hyères

Conservatoire botanique national de Nancy, 100, rue du Jardin Botanique, 54600 Villiers-les-Nancy

Conservatoire botanique pyrénéen, Vallon de Salut, BP 315, 65203 Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Jardins Botaniques de France et des pays francophone (founded in 1979) joins together some 76 botanic gardens and botanic reference-collections in French-speaking countries, with the aim of promoting cooperation, organizing meetings, and by means of a botanic gardens charter.

Key Institutions

Direction de la Nature et des Paysages, Ministère de l’Ecologie et du Développement Durable, 20 avenue de Ségur, 75302 Paris 07 SP.

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57, rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05. (The Museum hosts the Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel, a website including information on species and natural sites, as well as France"s implementation of international environmental legislation).

Acknowledgement

Based on material prepared by Hugh Synge for the Council the Council of Europe, 1999-2000. Last updated May 2006.