Creation of the Pays de la Loire CEN

Set up as an association, the Pays de la Loire CEN brings together the State, local authorities, farmers’ representatives, foresters, hunters, fishermen, nature protection associations and committed citizens. It seeks to provide a platform for dialogue, as Loïc Bideau, President of the Pays de la Loire CEN, Henri-Michel Comet, Prefect of the Region, and Sophie Bringuy, Vice President of the Regional Council, underlined at the launch ceremony. 

With its main objective being to preserve biodiversity and landscapes, the Pays de la Loire CEN relies on 3 complementary axes of intervention: 

• Facilitation of a network of managers: the CEN will bring added value through networking existing structures
• Provision of support at local level: in collaboration with existing actors (Regional Nature Parks, Permanent Centres for Environmental Initiatives, etc.), the CEN will act as a resource centre for local authorities and socioeconomic actors.
• Preservation and management of sites: this may be ensured by control of land ownership or (by convention) control of land use of sites. As regards the Loire Valley, acquisition of spaces in need of protection will be a new competence in relation to action previously carried out by CORELA.