In France, the green and blue infrastructure (TVB, from the French trame verte et bleue) has officially designated since 2007 one of the major national projects arising from the Grenelle Environnement. It consists of the entire network of biological corridors (or ecological corridors, existing or to be restored), landscape corridors..Code de l'environnement, Livre III, titre VII La trame verte et la trame bleue, chapitre II Dispositions communes, article R. 371-19 III and "biodiversity reservoirs", with protected areas being essential to these ecological continuities.
It aims to halt the biodiversity loss (both extraordinary and ordinary) as the landscape becomes increasingly fragmented. It is also the national version of the pan-European ecological network. It should enable animal and plant species to move around in order to carry out the important stages of their life cycle (feeding, resting, reproduction, etc.). It should also facilitate the genetic exchanges necessary for the survival of wild species, as well as the movement of the “distribution areas” of wild species and natural habitats, under the constraints of climate change. The “green” part corresponds to natural and semi-natural terrestrial environments, and the “blue” component refers to the aquatic and wetland network (rivers, streams, wetlands, estuaries, etc.).
It is finally a major framework and tool for spatial planning, for the ecological restoration of the territory in France. It is based upstream on consultation involving the State, local authorities, and a large number of stakeholders, including environmental protection associations. Between 2011 and 2015, regional ecological coherence plans (SRCE) were developed and implemented in each region. These documents must now be translated into coordinated regional and local strategies (notably through SCoTs and other urban planning documents) and concrete actions (e.g., preservation of functionalities, mapping, construction of wildlife crossings, intentional management and restorative management).
The national biodiversity strategy is implemented at regional level (including overseas territories) through regional biodiversity strategies (RBS, also promoted by the IUCN)), as well as through Agenda 21 and other territorial strategies, action plans of local authorities (“The State and local authorities will work to strengthen actions, co-organizing them where necessary and ensuring their consistency)).
Administration In May 2011, most regions had begun developing their SRCE. They did so either by updating an existing TVB (Alsace, Nord-Pas-de-Calais), by conducting a preliminary study for the SRCE, or by drafting specifications for this study. "Preliminary committees for regional green and blue belt committees” (bodies making proposals to the State and the Region, co-developers of the SRCE) had already been set up in Franche-Comté, Poitou-Charentes(February 2011) and in May in Limousin, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Rhône-Alpes, with a coordinated approach at the national level by Fabienne Allag-Dhuisme, TVB project manager at the Ministry of Ecology
In June 2011, a national committee and regional committees responsible for the green and blue infrastructure were officially prepared by two executive ordersDécret n° 2011-738 du 28 juin 2011 relatif au Comité national « trames verte et bleue » et Décret n° 2011-739 du 28 juin 2011 relatif aux comités régionaux « trames verte et bleue » et modifiant la partie réglementaire du Code de l'environnement, sur Légifrance published on July 29, 2011 (not applying in Corsica or the overseas departments). Their composition and operation are governed by the provisions of executive order of June 8, 2006, as amended, relating to the creation, composition and operation of administrative commissions with advisory status.
The National TVB Committee has worked under the auspices of two ministries (Environment and Urban Planning). It is a forum for information, discussion, and consultation on ecological continuities, covering topics such as creation, preservation, and restoration, including at the European and international levels.It has been tasked with defining national guidelines and ensuring national coherence of the green and blue infrastructure. It is involved in developing, updating and monitoring National guidelines for the preservation and restoration of ecological continuities to good status (provided for in Section L.371-2) and draft executive order, circular and methodological documents on these national guidelines. The Minister of the Environment informs the national committee of the adopted SRCEs (regional ecological coherence plans), as well as an analysis of their contribution to the national coherence of the green and blue networks, followed by analyses of the results of their implementation. The committee may use recommendations to improve the preservation and restoration of ecological continuity when each of regional ecological coherence plans is revised. It is made up of five colleges (10 members each), including a college of elected representatives (representing the National Assembly, the Senate, the ARF, the ADF, the AMF, the ADCF, the Association of overseas communes and communities, the Federation of regional natural parks of France, the basin committees and the National Water Committee). It was officially installed on October 18, 2011 by the ministers or secretaries of state Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (Ecology), Thierry Mariani (Transport) and Benoist Apparu (Housing). It is chaired by Jérôme Bignon (UMP deputy for the Somme), assisted by two vice-presidents, one representing farmers (the president of the permanent assembly of chambers of agriculture), and the other representing naturalists (the president of France Nature Environnement). Under their leadership, various stakeholders involved in nature conservation and management, land use planning, agriculture, fishing, hunting, etc. will work together to help the minister finalize the decree implementing the green and blue Belt before the end of 2011
Regional committees are chaired by the prefect and the president of the Region. They serve as forums for information, discussion, and consultation on any subject related to ecological continuity, its preservation, and restoration at the regional level, while taking into account initiatives and progress in neighboring regions, including cross-border regions where applicable. The members, who perform their duties free of charge, develop, monitor, and update regional ecological coherence plans that foreshadow future green and blue networks, ensuring consistency with the guidelines of the national TVB and SDAGEs. They analyze the “results obtained in terms of the preservation and restoration of ecological continuity through the implementation of the regional ecological coherence plan” and may also be consulted “on all matters relating to regional and local biodiversity strategies,” with five colleges representing local authorities at least 30% of committee members), the State (at least 15%), socio-professional organizations and nature users (at least 20%), environmental associations (at least 15%) and scientists (at least 5%). These regional committees are informed by the president of the Regional Council and the prefect “of scientific work carried out on ecological continuity, its preservation or restoration within the region or neighboring regions, including cross-border regions, if they are aware of it.” Their composition is decided jointly by the president of the region and the prefect for a term of six years (Art. D. 371-11). They meet at least once a year, as necessary when convened by the presidents, and at least once a year. The agenda is set by the presidents, but if more than half of the members so request, this committee may meet and issue proposals or recommendations on its own initiative (Art. D. 371-12.). The Region and the Prefecture provide the committee's secretariat. Specialized commissions may be created (with internal rules setting out the list, composition, powers, and operating procedures of these commissions, as well as the cases in which the committee may delegate its advisory powers to them).
An internet portal called National Green and Blue Infrastructure Resource Centre, has since October 18, 2011 allowed access to online resources on this theme.
The OFB (formerly AFB) sets up or coordinates training useful for TVB stakeholders.
History The concepts of infrastructure and ecological network, as tools for biodiversity restoration and protection and spatial planning, emerged in the 1990s, in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio 1992), in Europe the Habitats Directive (EU 1992) and the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (Sofia 1995).
First tested in Northern European countries, they have been implemented on a European scale with the Pan-European Ecological Network, which they must apply to all levels of territory.
In France, several regions tested the creation of a network of biological corridors from the mid-1990s (Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Alsace, department of Isère). In 1999, the Voynet law, also known as LOADDT, through the Collective service scheme for natural areas introduced the notion of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity.
In 2004, a National Biodiversity Strategy aimed in particular (flagship action ) to restore minimal ecological connectivity at different territorial levels. The national biodiversity strategy (SNB) is one of the main implementations of the European strategy mentioned above. It must respond to local issues, as well as the guidelines of the Convention on Biological Diversity (ratified by France in 1994). France has a major environmental responsibility in the world due to its unique situation. It must manage a particularly extensive marine environment (in all oceans) and a natural terrestrial heritage that is also rich in the long term.
Then, in 2007, the theme of "ecological corridors", "ecological connectivities" was widely taken up by the participants in the Grenelle Environment Forum and enshrined in the Grenelle I and Grenelle II laws. These laws clearly introduce, for the first time in French law and urban planning documents, the notion of ecological continuity. The notion of ecological network (the framework) was in 2009 translated and proposed in a draft law (know as the Grenelle II law), and various documents or policy proposals. Three methodological guides coordinated by INRAE (formerly Irstea) were consulted on and improved between 2008 and 2010. Designed to help government and local authorities implement the network from the national level down to the level of local urban planning (PLU), territorial coherence and sustainability plans (SCoT) and communal map, they can be downloadable from the green and blue network resource centre website.
The implementation of the green and blue infrastructure is part of a set of biodiversity measures introduced or specified in the Grenelle II law. This law also proposes certification of the environmental quality of farms, strengthens the protection of wetlands and water quality, and recognizes - through a national maritime strategy - the importance of marine biodiversity for which France is one of the main stakeholders in terms of maritime area (overseas territories) and number of species or habitats concerned.
Its mapping, based on data and methods validated by an operational committee following the Grenelle Environment Forum, taking into account land use and mapping of agricultural areas with high natural valueusing different tools, was carried out at national level. Since January 2018, it has been available online on the National Natural Heritage Inventory website.