FR / Biodiversity: two instructions define the procedures for "strong protection zones"

The French Ministry for Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forestry, the Sea and Fisheries is publishing two instructions on the recognition of strong protection zones for land and maritime areas on 10/09/2025.

These two texts specify the concept of "strong protection", which must cover 10% of the French territory according to the target set by the National Strategy for Protected Areas 2030. In these areas, "pressures generated by human activities and likely to compromise the conservation of ecological issues are absent, avoided, eliminated or severely limited, in a permanent manner, through the implementation of land protection or appropriate regulations, combined with effective control of the activities concerned".

The instructions also specify the procedures for automatic recognition, or on the basis of a case-by-case analysis, of the "strong protection" status of these natural areas:
• automatic recognition for the core areas of national parks, nature reserves, biological reserves and areas covered by protection orders;
• on a case-by-case basis, by decision of the minister…