A building walled up and covered with tires and manure in Beauvais on Monday November 18, offices ransacked and agents insulted in Guéret on Tuesday 19… The French Biodiversity Office (OFB), whose 2,000 agents are very visible on the ground , is once again in the crosshairs of certain farmers. Its general director, Olivier Thibault, says he understands the need for clarity on the standards, but calls for not making the OFB a scapegoat.
How do you characterize the recent attacks targeting the OFB?
Compared to the demonstrations at the beginning of the year, new steps have been taken. First there was a near attack on an agent [fin octobre dans le Tarn-et-Garonne]. He came to the farmers to talk and someone removed the nuts from the wheels of his car. He could have had a serious accident. And in Guéret, there was an intrusion into the premises. The door was broken down and people searched for documents to try to prevent legal proceedings. It is the rule of law that is under attack.
We are aware that not all farmers are responsible for these actions. And we know the difficulties that part of the sector faces: the OFB spends its time working with farmers, trying to find solutions. There is no OFB and ecology on one side, and agriculture on the other. Agriculture is the first victim of climate change. If we want to produce food, we need a good environment and to work together. This makes it even more difficult to find yourself erected as a totem of problems or a symbol of difficulties.
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Why is the OFB targeted?
We are almost the only state agents working on the environment who are in physical contact with rural residents. The OFB is 2,000 people who spend their lives outside. They have a uniform, they are on the ground, they are visible. It's easier to tap on them than on someone you don't know who is hidden behind a screen. Common agricultural policy checks are carried out through satellite observations, other checks are carried out through tax declarations.
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Farmers say they are heavily controlled and severely punished, even though the controls are few and the penalties often light…
Farmers have the feeling that they can be heavily punished for things they do not consider serious, even if in reality the maximum penalties are never applied. And many tell us that they were treated like delinquents because they were summoned to a hearing and had to justify themselves, even if in the end they only had a simple reminder of the law.
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