Just a few weeks ago, more than 900 chickens were frolicking on the 9,000 m2 adjoining the home of Pascale and Christian Cedra in Castillon.
But the time for retirement came and the couple gave up their chickens and henhouses.
The land therefore remained bare.
Well, not quite… “We have always had this concern for our environment.
We told ourselves that we would do everything we could to not leave a trace,” explains Christian Cedra.
Hence the idea of transforming their land into a “forest garden”.
“The objective is to reforest, to allow biodiversity to develop while producing fruits, edible seeds or even firewood for our house,” continues the young retiree.
Thanks to the expertise of an association called Danub', specialized in the implementation of these projects, the couple has already planted no less than 230 trees from 77 different varieties.
But the Cedra, aware that their sensitivity would not be enough to protect their environment for years to come, decided to go further.
Future owners will not be able to cut down trees
The couple signed a Real Environmental Obligation (ORE).
This is an official document, contracted before their notary and which obliges everyone to respect the biodiversity of a land for a given period.
For 800 euros, the couple protected their plot for the next 99 years.
Nothing, not even the death of the owner or the sale of the land, can lift this provision.
It is the land itself which is committed via this notarial deed.
The Danub' association can come once a year to ensure that nothing, soil, trees or biodiversity in general, has been harmed on this plot.
And, otherwise, initiate proceedings, against the new owner for example who has not respected this obligation, which now appears in the land register.
“We measure the consequences of agricultural voracity every day.
We must realize that 23,000 km of hedges still disappear each year in France.
This ORE is therefore our small contribution to this resistance,” concludes Christian Cedra.