Access To Land
The Marais Breton is a natural wetland between Brittany and Poitou, an area marked by a strong local identity and high environmental stakes regarding the protection of its fragile ecosystem.
The combined efforts of citizen, environmental protection, and farming organisations have allowed a young man in career transition to set up a farming activity in this sensitive area. This type of collaboration between players from different arenas, whose viewpoints do not always converge, is still quite rare. Together, they successfully mobilised support and funds from a public institution, individuals, and a company in order to purchase 50 hectares (124 acres) of wetland and one 2000 sq.m. building.
Without this backing, Mickaël, the new farmer, would never have been able to launch his production of locally-sold organic goat cheese. In return for this solidarity, he agreed to implement environmentally-friendly practices to protect the fragile milieu entrusted to him through an environmental rural lease (ERL).
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