Territories of protected nature can rise from the initiative of public authorities, but also from the dynamics of local actors who intend to manage nearby nature. Nearly 300 local initiatives of endogenous territorial governance of nature and sustainable development, in France, have been analysed : A quarter of them were aiming at the creation or a contribution to the management of areas of protected nature. We analyse these initiatives, their objectives, then we look at their place in protected areas public policies and, more generally, in a "cooperative democracy" ; this one aim to better articulate the endogenous and exogenous dynamics, in local territories, driven by public or civil agents, whose objectives are often convergent.Les terr...