Recognising pastoral farming - L'inscription au patrimoine mondial - The UNESCO World Heritage listing - A living territory

These cultural landscapes are representative of Mediterranean pastoral farming. Virtually every type of pastoral organisation encountered in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean – pastoral farming, agro-forestry, transhumance (Seasonal migration of livestock between mountain and valley pastures), and sedentary pastoral farming – is present here. In that sense, the landscapes have a universal value.

They are also outstanding because the objects and sites characterising them bear witness to the fact that these cultural landscapes have lasted for three millennia, regardless of the natural, economic or social context.

The conservation and management of most of these attributes (whether mineral, vegetal or agronomic in nature) are directly connected to pastoral farming. The continuous adaptation of pastoral farming to social and economic conditions does not diminish the characteristics of these cultural landscapes – on the contrary.

It is therefore the permanence of pastoral farming in the Causses and Cévennes that guarantees not only the authenticity but also the integrity of these landscapes.

Pastoral-farming systems

Pastoral farming in the Causses and Cévennes comprises different kinds of pastoral organisation derived from traditional systems and based, entirely or in part, on extensive livestock farming using.

Within these systems, farms were dispersed in villages, hamlets and isolated mas (farmhouses). They often had little more than a few dozen sheep and some goats, which every year joined the herds coming from the lowland garrigues and moving up to their summer pastures. This was the vertical transhumance typical of the Mediterranean basin. The systems subsequently adjusted to the rural exodus, the decline and revival of agriculture, and the resulting changes in land use.

The modernisation of techniques and ways of life, and the globalisation of the economy, have had a major impact on transhumant practices. Nevertheless, despite the falling numbers and increasing size and variety of farms – including farms of 400-600 mostly joined-up hectares that are much more efficient – current systems have remained very close to traditional ones.

Sheep farming for meat combined with agro-forestry (and sometimes another agricultural or agro-tourism business), which cultivates and grazes several levels of vegetation in the schist Cévenol valleys and on the granite shelves of the Aigoual or Mont Lozère massifs. This system is associated with goat farming for pélardon-cheese production combined with agro-forestry.

Sheep farming for meat combined with agro-forestry, which cultivates and grazes the various vegetation structures on the Causses. Sheep farming for cheese production combined with agro-forestry is associated with this.

Sheep or cow farming for meat combined with agro-forestry, which cultivates and grazes the various vegetation structures on the granitic uplands.

Sheep farming using summer transhumance from Lower Languedoc (garrigues) and the Lower Cévennes to the higher altitudes of the granite shelves and plateaux of the Causses.

New agricultural dynamics

Data collected during the last general agricultural censuses, especially in 2000, show the continuing dynamism of pastoral farming, despite decreasing numbers of farms.

The sheep population of the Cévennes is 350,000 strong, an increase of 5.4% since 1988; meanwhile on the national level numbers have been falling noticeably.

The cow population has increased by 60% to 28,616. There are 3,336 horses and ponies – excellent grazers – representing an increase of 115%. By contrast, goat numbers have fallen by 30%. Permanent grassland has decreased by 1%, but arable land used for fodder production has increased by 23%. Finally, transhumant pastoral farming retains a special role, with 97 farmers and 125 herds, a total of around 23,500 heads.

Revenues from pastoral farming are often complemented by another agro-tourism or agricultural activity, such as fruit-growing or market gardening.

Pride and responsibility

Being listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites is a great honour for the region, and particularly its shepherds and livestock farmers. The links they have woven and the interaction they have always maintained with the natural environment are what created, shaped and preserved these outstanding places.

It is also a tremendous boost for the area’s renown and thus for tourism, which remains its foremost economic activity.

This distinction also confers a significant responsibility. The State has committed itself to preserving and publicising local pastoral farming, and to giving pastoral farmers the means to keep living and prospering on this land. Via the State, the National Park has assumed responsibility for the two-thirds of the property that lie within its borders. The future Charter of the National Park will be its management plan.