Target the environment to extinguish agricultural anger. This is the choice made by the French government at the beginning of February which notably announced the suspension of the Ecophyto plan. This aimed to halve the use of pesticides by 2030. For the executive, environmental protection would be incompatible with the fact of production: environmental standards are reduced to administrative hassles preventing the agricultural profession to live well. However, scientific studies agree on the role of pesticides - particularly neonicotinoids - in the collapse of bee populations, or the consequences of intensive agriculture on the disappearance of birds and floral diversity.

A large open-air laboratory of 45 hectares in Deux Sèvres, created 000 years ago by researcher Vincent Bretagnolle in collaboration with farmers, shows on the contrary that the protection of biodiversity, particularly pollinating insects, makes it possible to increase yields. This testing ground also reveals that farmers manage to increase their income by reducing pesticides and fertilizers such as synthetic nitrogen. It seemed essential to us in Basta! to broadcast this interview with Vincent Bretagnolle so that this large-scale scientific experiment on changes in agricultural practices is better known.

Sophie Chapelle: Should we talk about erosion or collapse of biodiversity?

Vincent Bretagnolle: Both terms are appropriate. Every year, we witness a slow erosion of biodiversity: we lose 1 to 2% of the number of birds in agricultural areas in all European countries. After 50 years this represents at least 50% of the birds! We can therefore speak of collapse when we take a step back.

What are the most evocative data on this subject?

We have very precise data on bird populations [1]. They decline particularly in agricultural environments – five to eight times faster than in wooded environments, for example. Around thirty species are dependent on the agricultural environment in France – partridges, quails, gray harriers, skylarks, little bustards, etc. These species are decreasing even more quickly than the others.

The data on insects point in the same direction. 90% of European butterflies populations have disappeared from agricultural environments. For locusts and ground beetles, the drop observed is 30 to 50% on our study site. It is therefore not surprising that birds are disappearing since they feed on insects. The decline of one leads to the decline of the other. There is a long-term collapse of biodiversity, insects and birds.

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