As a sign of protest, the Aude winegrowers’ union is calling for mobilization this Thursday during the summons of two producers to the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB).
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They used to be game wardens, let them become one again. They do not know if a vine is weeded or if there has been crushing…” sighs Fédéric Rouanet, the president of the Syndicat des Vignerons de l’Aude (SVA), who calls for the mobilization of the vineyard this Thursday, June 2 to accompany at 8:30 a.m. two producers summoned to Trèbes by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB, born in 2020 of the merger of the French Agency for Biodiversity and the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife). Having been checked by OFB agents, these two winegrowers would be heard for breaches of environmental regulations. In particular for the non-respect of “the grass strip of 5 meters around the Aquatic Non-Treatment Zones (aquatic ZNT) during weeding operations” specifies a press release from the SVA.
Questioning the expertise of OFB agents, Frédéric Rouanet noted that “the ZNT grow on their own through mechanization [nécessitant d’éloigner les vignes des bords de parcelles]. It is done little by little, it is not because there is a ZNT that we have to uproot the old vines”. Beyond the measures deemed unjustified, it is the summons that does not pass, the union representative having the impression that his comrades will be taken into custody and will have to admit their wrongs as if they were presumed guilty. “I no longer want to have people with weapons coming to our vineyards to tell us what to do” plague Frédéric Rouanet, slippery that“one day there will be a tragedy in a vineyard”.
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Rejecting any lawsuit, this mobilization comes at a time of tension in the Languedoc vineyards, where treasuries remain affected by an unprecedented succession of crises (climate, geopolitics, logistics, etc.). Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “We have just taken an additional €800 in charges per hectare. There will be additional winemaking costs.” testifies Frédéric Rouanet, who intends to discuss with the OFB on Thursday and bring up the anger of the Languedoc vineyards to the public authorities.
When contacted, the OFB did not respond to requests for Vitisphere as of publication date.
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