Integrating agriculture and biodiversity management: between green legitimisation and knowledge production

This article analyses the impact of a local breed restoration project on biodiversity management policy within an alpine area (Les Bauges, France). At the present time, this region is witnessing the rebranding of breeding practices as an activity that is an environmental problem in terms of objectives to restore for wildlife to that of a solution permitting the open management of these alpine areas. The success of this 'greening' re-legitimisation process can be linked to the specific local agricultural development context. However, this text seeks to go beyond an interpretation that focuses solely on the strength of the agricultural lobby to show that the involvement of both agricultural and environmental actors in the restoration of pastoral farming in scrublands creates both knowledge and knowledge practice, specifically with respect to the emerging relationship between stock animals and grassland biodiversity