A wine-growing estate in the Var was sentenced on Friday November 26 to 45,000 euros in firm fines for having cleared the habitat area of a threatened species of turtle, as well as compensation "
in reparation
" for ecological damage, two months later a similar decision in another area.
Read alsoBiodiversity: 5 new protected areas on French territory
The vineyard of Château des Launes, in La Garde-Freinet, in the Plaine des Maures, was imposed a first fine of 30,000 euros for the clearing, in 2019, of land likely to constitute "
an attractive habitat for Hermann's tortoises
”, a protected species of which the south-eastern France is one of the last sanctuaries.
For improvements made in 2020 on an area located between the estate and the Plaine des Maures nature reserve, the Draguignan criminal court ordered the operation to a second fine of 25,000 euros, including 15,000 euros suspended.
The operator of the domain was finally sentenced to a fine of 15,000 euros, including 10,000 euros suspended.
The "repair of ecological damage"
The court also ordered the estate and its operator to pay 16,778 euros "
in compensation for ecological damage
", as well as 3,000 euros "
in compensation for moral damage
" to each of the four civil party associations, including France nature environnement and the Departmental Union. for the safeguard of the life of nature.
Noting that certain arrangements had already been withdrawn, the justice ordered the "
restoration of the premises within six months
", under penalty.
Read alsoThe Mediterranean basin, a jewel of biodiversity in urgent need of protection
During the hearing, in October, the lawyer of the domain, Me Florent Ladouce, had put forward the obligation to clear the brush to explain this work of 2019. At the end of September, in a similar case, a fine of 100,000 euros had been inflicted by the same Draguignan court on another wine-growing estate in the Var, the Château de Berne estate, also guilty of clearing an area of Hermann's turtle habitat. The estate was also ordered to pay 375,000 euros for “
ecological damage
”, a sum allocated by the court “
to measures in favor of the Hermann tortoise
”.
Also defended by Me Ladouce, the Château de Berne appealed.
The lawyer had denounced the "
unusually zealous
" application of the regulations on clearing bans in protected areas, such as the Plaine des Maures Reserve, a regulation which would have demonstrated "
its limits
" this summer.
The lawyer referred to the gigantic fire which devastated the Maures massif and the hinterland of Saint-Tropez (Var) in August, killing two people.
The Var and Corsica are the last refuge of Hermann's tortoise, a declining species, classified as vulnerable on the national red list of threatened species.
