Comment est née la conception française des parcs nationaux ?

Abstract: How the french conception of national parks was born. A distinguishing characteristic of French national parks is their dual role as a means for promoting both protection, namely in their central zone, and development, in their peripheral zone. How was this conception of national parks born? In this paper, we demonstrate that it is not the result of careful and lengthy reflection but instead stems from a synthesis of several projects, worked out at the end of the 1950s. At that time a spokesman for the hunters' associations, Dr. Couturier, was carrying on a struggle to save the ibex, a species of game that was then close to extinction in the French Alps. Alpinists were also fighting for a similar project, though it concerned a smaller area. Another interest group, led by Gilbert André, wanted to maintain the traditional alpine culture and way of life, preserve the beauty of the Alps, and provide city dwellers with an area where they could periodically go back to their roots for rest and relaxation. Although the aims, the methods employed and the references of these different groups were very different, their projects all called for the creation of a national park in the Vanoise. Thus, fairly quickly, the initial diversity of interests came to be seen not as a handicap but as a chance to be seized. Everyone was able to interpret the term "national park" in his or her own way, so that it unified actors instead of dividing them. The concept of the national park thus provided a common, unifying element for several individual projects that alone would probably never have succeeded.Résumé : Les parcs nationaux français ont la particularité de vouloir être à la fois un instrument de protection, grâce à leur zone centrale, et de développement, grâce à leur zone périphérique. Comment est née cette « conception française des parcs nationaux » ? Nous montrons qu'elle ne résulte pas d'une pensée longuement élaborée mais de la synthèse, opérée à la fin des années cinquante, entre plusieurs projets. Le Dr Couturier, porte-parole des institutions cynégétiques, lutte pour sauver le bouquetin, alors en voie d'extinction en France. Les alpinistes défendent un projet proche du précédent, mais de superficie plus réduite. Gilbert André désire maintenir la culture montagnarde traditionnelle, préserver la beauté des Alpes, et offrir aux citadins un espace où se ressourcer périodiquement. Intentions, méthodes et références des uns et des autres sont très diverses. Tous, cependant, réclament la création d'un parc national ; assez vite, cette ambiguïté initiale apparaît moins comme un handicap que comme une chance à saisir.Mauz Isabelle. Comment est née la conception française des parcs nationaux ?. In: Revue de géographie alpine, tome 90, n°2, 2002. pp. 33-44