French wildlife and beekeeping

  For several years, measures have been taken to limit the worrying spread of pampas grass. In France, the decree of February 14, 2018 - amended in March 2020 and then in April 2024 - classifies Cortaderia selloana among the plant species whose possession, planting and transport are prohibited throughout the territory. This means that you can no longer keep it at home at the time of writing and that it is imperative that you destroy your stocks. The risks incurred in the event of non-compliance with these regulations are set out in Articles L415-3 and R415-1 of the Environmental Code. Their content is very clear: it is forbidden to "voluntarily introduce into the natural environment, transport, peddle, use, offer for sale, sell or buy a specimen of an animal or plant species", under penalty of risking a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of €150,000. How this will be enforced remains to be seen. Chris

Lots of questions about this subject crop up and this is no more than a rough outline. Winter climatic conditions in the Northern Hemisphere vary enormously, and even when we take a relatively small land mass such as France, there are huge variations in the different regions. The reasons for this will be obvious to most people, and to put it very simply, they are the geographical differences between North, South, East, West, inland or coastal, mountains, and plains. Of course, it's actually more complicated, but we can all get the general idea. For hundreds of thousands of years, creatures have adapted and specialised to survive these climatic conditions in different ways and hopefully will continue to do so, although many may find they struggle as climate chaos gathers pace and our demands on the environment increase. Migration:  Perhaps the most obvious method of dealing with winter is to physically move somewhere else, often long distances, mostly Africa, where it is warmer ...

The conflict between humans and wolves knows no end.  It was always going to be difficult as their numbers recovered and increased to maintain the "strictly protected fauna species" category that they have enjoyed at the European level.  Pressure, mainly from farmers, has resulted in their status being reduced to "special protected fauna species"  at the end of 2024 and put into action at the beginning of March 2025. This is a major change and a huge backward step that will make it easier for people to kill them when we need them to help address the proliferation of species that they prey on.  More LINK HERE Chris