Ransacked premises, agents threatened: why is the French Biodiversity Office crystallizing the anger of farmers?

The French Biodiversity Office crystallizes the anger of farmers. In full mobilization, the environmental police are regularly the target of damage and its agents suffer threats, even attacks. The establishment, responsible for studying the fauna and flora or raising awareness among the population about respect for nature, also provides administrative and judicial environmental policing functions, to control the illegal uprooting of hedges here, there irrigation in times of drought… A police mission which annoys part of the agricultural world.

Last week in Creuse, farmers have forced into the offices of the OFB of Guéretbroke down the front door with kicks and breeze blocks, before throwing files taken at random outside, all punctuated by insults and threats against the local director, who filed a complaint. In Beauvais, farmers in Oise dumped tires and manure in front of the OFB, after having erected a concrete block wall. This Tuesday again, several hundred farmers demonstrated in Montbard, in front of the French Biodiversity Office, at the call of the FDSEA of Côte-d'Or.

Agent's car sabotaged

Much more serious, at the beginning of October, the head of the OFB of Tarn-et-Garonne filed a complaint after the sabotage of his car, on the sidelines of a meeting on controls on agricultural holdings. After this meeting at the Montauban Chamber of Agriculture, “I noticed unusual behavior on my vehicle”says Jérémie Rapaud. “When I parked, I noticed the absence of the five nuts which normally hold the left rear wheel. Luckily, the wheel remained in place with the weight of the vehicle.”

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During the agricultural demonstrations of January and February, the OFB had already been the target of numerous protests, with damage to several local branches. Agents had complained of attacks against them. Some were even targeted by name. “It has had an impact on our families. My partner is afraid of finding manure in front of the door or the tagged house”testifies an OFB agent, who prefers to remain anonymous, to franceinfo. “We understand the difficulties that farmers are going through, but there are red lines that must not be crossed”. As of November 12, the OFB indicated to franceinfo that it had filed around fifty complaints for damage and threats on a national scale.

“Scapegoat”

“All attacks which target the physical integrity of these agents (…) are unacceptable,” warned the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, on Sud Radio this Wednesday. “If we have criticism of the law, of the regulations, we must address those who make it, the ministers, the parliamentarians,” she continued, “but we cannot blame an agent who has a public service mission for carrying out this mission.” The day before, Arnaud Rousseau, president of the majority union FNSEA, had promised new actions against “anything that hinders the lives of farmers (…), administrations, a certain number of agencies”raising concern within the OFB.

The French Biodiversity Office serves as “scapegoat”estimates Guillaume Rulin, national coordinator of the EFA-CGC union at the OFB. “There is a desire to prevent controls, which nevertheless guarantee fairness” between farmers who respect the regulations and others, according to him. According to Olivier Thibault, general director of the OFB, interviewed in Agricultural Franceif its agents are targeted, it is “for the simple reason that they wear a uniform” and that they “are depositaries of a share of the authority of the State”.

“It’s very difficult psychologically for the teams,” testifies in any case Patrick Bertrand, director of the OFB in Hauts-de-Franceon France Bleu Picardie. “We hear very well the discontent of farmers, the difficulties that the profession is experiencing today: we are in daily contact with them, we see it very clearly. However, making the OFB responsible for these difficulties create a lack of understanding for us. Our primary objective is precisely to have a permanent dialogue with the agricultural profession, to try together to build solutions in favor of more sustainable agriculture.he assures. “We do not want to be enemies of farmers, but rather allies in building the future”.

Only 10% of farms controlled in 2023

“We are often highlighted because we are easily identifiable with the uniform, but we control very few farmers out of the total number of people we will control over a year.” also underlines Thibaut Larduinat, the head of the OFB department in Sartheon France Bleu Maine. And even if OFB agents are not the only ones to visit farmers (Labor Inspectorate, Agricultural Social Mutuality, Services and Payment Agency, etc.), “we cannot say that we are looking for violations among farmers, we are very, very far from that”, he argues.

In 2023, almost 90% of agricultural operations have not been subject to any administrative controlbarely 10% were subject to an inspection, and only 1% underwent two or more inspections, all administrations combined, according to an interministerial report revealed by Context. Concerning the controls carried out by the OFB only, the agency inspects less than 1% of farms each year. “If we compare the number of inspections to the number of farms, a farm has the probability of being inspected once every 130 years”, calculates Émilie Ledein, deputy director of the OFB in Hauts-de-France.

At the start of the year, however, at the heart of the agricultural crisis, the order was given to slow down. “At the end of January, we either stopped or reduced administrative controls. They gradually resumed in March”assures Olivier Thibault, the general director of the OFB. Over the first six months of the year, the number of administrative checks on farmers increased decreased by 68% compared to the same period in 2023, according to a internal document consulted by franceinfo. Judicial controls have decreased by 37%. “Only absolutely necessary checks were authorized,” remembers Sylvain Michel, CGT union representative at the OFB.

In addition, the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard announced at the end of October a single administrative controleither “only one visit per year and per farm”. This single visit will, however, not include tax and legal audits.

Armed agents

The Rural Coordination also criticizes the OFB for the attitude of the agents and demands the disarmament of OFB agents during checks on farms. At the end of October, around ten farmers from the Haute-Saône Rural Coordination ont surrounded the entrance to the French Biodiversity Office with barbed wire in Noidans-lès-Vesoul.“Some agents think they are cowboyssaid Florian Dirant, the president of rural coordination in Haute-Saône. They come to us armed and we don’t want that anymore.”

Il also requires more flexibility and dialogue with these agents responsible for carrying out compliance checks.“They are far too formal, it puts pressure on us, we can't take it anymore. A small mistake in trimming the hedges for example and bam, we get a fine”, assures Florian Dirant.

“The weapon doesn’t shock anyone when we see a police officer. Why would it shock anyone when we see an environmental police officer?” questions Patrick Bertrand, the director of the OFB in Hauts-de-France. Of the 3,000 OFB officials, 1,700 agents are there to enforce the Environmental Code, and also control hunters or poachers. Like any judicial police officer, they can conduct searches, interview, and carry a weapon. “To work safely, weapons remain absolutely essential”estimated Olivier Thibault, general director of the OFBdepending on who 85 agents of the OFB or the agencies from which it comes, have been killed in the past on mission.

To ease tensions, there is now talk of the agents intervening with their weapons hidden. “What is worrying is that the people being controlled dictate what the agents do”alarms Thomas, an OFB agent who did not wish to give his last name.

“Outbidding” for union elections

Another piece of information explains the increase in actions against the OFB, according to Thomas: “There is a bidding war in the union for who will be the most anti-regulation, anti-OFB, hoping to collect votes during professional elections” of January, he laments.

“There is an instrumentalization of what is called 'environmental constraints', also believes Sylvain Michel, of the CGT Environnement. According to him, however, daily relationships with the farmers are generally cordial. “We understand very well the reasons for the anger of farmers, who have difficult living conditions and income that does not match their work.”