Les conceptions normatives du paysage. Le cas des Grands Causses

Abstract

At the end of XIXth century, scientists became interested in the origin and the evolution of the open landscapes of the Grands Causses (South of the French Massif Central) and their opinion about them have strongly changed with time. During most of the XXth century, the chalk grasslands are seen as ruined lands which should be regenerated by reafforestation. But since the 70s, land managers and scientists are more and more concerned by the conservation of open landscapes. We show in this text 1) that the origin of the open landscapes of the Grands Causses area was mainly explained by forest degradation and that the effects of agriculture and post-cultural successions were neglected ; 2) that the reafforestation of grasslands was a dominant position during the XXth century but become less and less important since the 70s ; 3) that open landscapes and grazing practices are now fully rehabilitated and integrated in the agrienvironmental management policies. At last, we examine the different stages of the radical change in the conception of the landscape of the Grands Causses. We use the notions of ‘ecosystem of reference’ and of ‘cultural landscape’ to discuss old and current notions in landscape management.