Focus on the Office français de la biodiversité
FR - Since its creation in 2020, the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB) ‘has been at the heart of efforts to preserve life in aquatic, terrestrial and marine environments, both in mainland France and overseas’.
A key word: biodiversity conservation
To protect the environment ‘from the pressures of the destruction and fragmentation of natural environments, the overexploitation of natural resources, the consequences of climate change, multiple forms of pollution and the introduction of invasive alien species, and to carry out its missions and adapt its actions to local issues in order to preserve the ecosystems of the territories’, the OFB cooperates with local and national entities:
These include the State, departments, regions, local authorities, associations, but also businesses, scientists, farmers, fishermen, and much more.
They are called upon and asked to participate in conservation work, such as ‘marine nature parks and coastal delegations, which are closest to the issues facing the territories and can provide their expertise and take action on marine issues’.
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"Various initiatives are being implemented to restore natural habitats, protect endangered species and raise awareness among residents of the importance of biodiversity"...
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In the field
A total of 3,000 agents (two-thirds of whom work in the field, combining scientific and technical expertise) protect biodiversity on a daily basis and ‘help to improve our understanding of ecosystems, how they function and how they adapt to pressures, while responding to the specific challenges facing each region’.
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Their mission includes: "Monitoring compliance with administrative measures relating to wildlife, natural environments, water, natural spaces, hunting and fishing, as well as health missions related to wildlife"...
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The OFB also collaborates with ‘the state police (gendarmerie), the national police, customs and other services, particularly on the illegal trade in wild species (40,000 of which are protected)... governed by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)’.
Regional Biodiversity Agencies
The ARBs (Regional Biodiversity Agencies, 11 in mainland France and overseas) are the OFB's links within the territories, ‘combining resources and skills by bringing together all local stakeholders’. They promote actions and projects, ‘coordinate national, regional and local policies’ for biodiversity, helping to ‘better include the challenges of its preservation and restoration in projects related to land use planning and development, awareness raising, agriculture, transport, energy’.
And in Occitanie?
In Occitanie, an ‘exceptional reservoir of biodiversity within highly varied landscapes,’ the OFB has 300 agents, regional services (headquarters in Toulouse and Grabels), 13 departmental services, one nature park – the Gulf of Lion Marine Nature Park in Argelès-sur-Mer, two national hunting and wildlife reserves – Caroux-Espinouse in Castanet-le-Haut and Orlu, two national nature reserves – Estagnol in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelonne and Jujols, as well as a training centre in Pérols and study, research and development centres, particularly on species at risk, including mountain galliformes and bears in Villeneuve-de-Rivière, and on fish continuity and water flow in Toulouse (eco-hydraulics centre).
Want to find out more about, the current missions of the OFB Occitanie? Visit its website.
Many thanks to Jean-Marie LAFOND, Deputy Director of the Direction régionale d'Occitanie, for his collaboration on this article and for providing documentation.
The right address: Office français de la biodiversité, Direction régionale d'Occitanie, 55 chemin du Mas Matour, 34790 Grabels. Find the OFB on Instagram and Facebook.