Environment

News updates on environmental issues affecting life in France, from green transport initiatives to being eco-friendly at home.

French eco-villages find way to combat depopulation

Imagination, commitment and hard work can help rebuild rural life as these three villages in Dordogne and Limousin show

La chasse 2021: How to block hunters from using your land in France

Use this letter template to request that your land be taken off the list of permitted hunting grounds

French architect’s scheme saves building waste from skips

Nearly 75% of all waste comes from the construction industry, according to the government environment agency Ademe, a figure that architect Joanne Boachon is hoping to change

France looks to small-scale nuclear plants for its future

‘Small modular reactors’ (SMR) would be a major shift in France’s nuclear power policy - until now, state-owned energy giant EDF has concentrated on huge plants

Traps set in trial attempting to control tiger mosquitoes in France

The first type of trap uses a blood-like substance to trick mosquitoes into entering, and a second where water at the bottom tempts them to lay eggs

Innovative French service offering airline recycling and storage

Tarmac Aerosave, based across the runway from Tarbes Lourdes airport in Hautes-Pyrénées, is the world’s number one for aircraft and engine recycling

France tops international Green List of outstanding protected areas

France accounts for 22 of the 59 entries on the international Green List, recently adding seven new areas

‘National scheme needed’ in France to recycle tonnes of masks

Zéro Waste France head Juliette Franquet said if people were 'throwing out two masks a day, that meant 400 tonnes of waste a day'

French vineyards restore stone walls to help jewelled lizards survive

The green 'lézard ocellé' – known in English as the ocellated or jewelled lizard – was once common across southern France but is becoming increasingly rare

These are the rules for wild camping in France

Whilst wild camping is legal in France, it is strongly regulated and campers should follow certain rules

Anger as bee-killer pesticide ban is temporarily lifted in France

Neonicotinoid pesticides are banned across the EU as they leak into soil and water sources and kill pollinating insects

Snakes in France: What kinds are there and where will you see them?

'People's first reaction when they see a snake is to kill it – which is now illegal', says snake expert Matthieu Berroneau

Surprise fly-tipping find for mayor in northeast France

What the Grand-Est mayor saw allowed him to identify who had dumped the rubbish

France’s Citizens’ climate body explained

The Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat is made up of 150 volunteers randomly selected from the public to brainstorm ideas to tackle climate change

France tightens plastics ban

The country is to take another step towards the end of single-use plastic packaging from January 1

Griffon vultures no longer in danger of extinction in France

Breakthrough for French ornithologists as the vulture species, once thought to be extinct, now has around 2,000 breeding couples around France

New 'pay as you throw' rubbish system rolled out in France

A new waste collection payment system is being gradually introduced to residents in one department of France – the more bags you throw out, the more you pay.

Meet the company making furniture from cigarette butts

French company MéGo! is the first of its kind in Europe to recycle cigarette ends into useful end products

Uncertain future for historic Ile-de-France allotments

Expanding Paris is threatening gardens which, for over a century, have been oases of green, reports Mike Diliën

Locals fight to save rural French land that Proust loved

A peaceful rural landscape described by Marcel Proust in A la recherche du temps perdu could be surrounded by 150m wind turbines unless literature-lovers win a last-gasp fight.

Where will you find the best weather in France?

Which department in France has the most pleasant climate? We currently live in the mountains of Málaga province in Spain, and we, and our dogs, really struggle with the heat two months of the year. We all love crisp winter days, a promising fresh and bright spring, and glorious autumn leaves. We love summer, but not 40c heat!

Beware Asian hornets nests widespread in France this summer

Nests of dangerous Asian hornets are expected to be widespread this summer after a sunny spring.