A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #354 - CREUSE Forest defense: a major mobilization (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On Saturday, October 5, a demonstration brought together 3,000 people in 
Guéret against the project to set up a pellet manufacturing plant. A 
similar project planned in Viam, in Corrèze, was suspended in 2019 and 
abandoned in 2021 following local opposition, but also due to the 
financial difficulties of its promoters (see CA n° 280 - May 2018). What 
is the battle being played out in Guéret? ---- At the beginning of 
October 2023, an article in the regional daily La Montagne revealed that 
the company Biosyl, whose main shareholder is the huge forestry 
cooperative Unisylva, was planning to create a pellet manufacturing 
plant in Guéret. It already has two plants in Nièvre and Haute-Loire. 
This plant would be located on a 14-hectare site and would consume 
140,000 tonnes of hardwood per year (from forests within a 150 km radius 
of Guéret) to produce 85,000 tonnes of pellets.

First mobilizations and legal battles
A first brainstorming meeting brought together 250 people in the fall. 
The mobilization is led by around twenty local associations as well as 
the Creuse branch of France Nature Environnement, the Canopée 
association, specializing in the defense of forests and the "forest 
group" of the Limousin Mountain Union. It is supported by unions and 
left-wing parties... A larger public meeting took place on January 28, 
2024, bringing together around 600 people. Antoine de Cockborne, CEO of 
Biosyl, invited to discuss his project, preferred not to come. It was an 
interesting and dynamic meeting with film, theatre, songs... and 
political speeches.
The day after this meeting, the prefect of Creuse announced that she was 
giving the green light to this factory creation without an authorisation 
procedure or public inquiry. The town hall of Guéret and that of 
Saint-Fiel (the land straddles the two towns) had each granted a 
building permit in December. On 7 February, FNE23 and Canopée filed 
appeals to have the building permits cancelled: the land in Saint-Fiel 
is classified as a natural area, the land in Guéret is over 10 hectares 
and includes a wetland, etc. On 11 March, the mayor of Saint-Fiel 
withdrew the building permit wrongly granted.
On 20 March, the associations learned that the Nouvelle-Aquitaine 
regional council was preparing to vote a subsidy of EUR650,000 to Biosyl 
for the establishment of its factory. Canopé and regional elected 
officials (Greens and PCs) mobilized to explain all the bad things they 
thought about Biosyl. The examination of the grant application was 
removed from the agenda. In May, a scientific study of the flora and 
fauna of the proposed land revealed the presence of protected species. 
Canopée and FNE23 filed an appeal for annulment against the prefect's 
decision of January 29.

And the popular mobilization?
A large demonstration in defense of the Limousin forests was planned for 
Sunday, June 30. It was also to oppose the extension of the Farge 
sawmill in Egletons, in Corrèze, even if this second point of contention 
often takes second place. The June demonstration was postponed due to 
legislative elections. It was this demonstration that took place from 
October 4 to 6. Despite a fairly strong media hype and splendid weather, 
the 5,000 demonstrators hoped for will only be 3,000. The evening of the 
4th was devoted to the reception on a plot of land lent by the city of 
Guéret. In this regard, it can be noted that the mayor of Guéret, who 
had granted the building permit to Biosyl last December, has now turned 
into an opponent of the project, which did not prevent the urban 
community from selling the land...
On the morning of the 5th, a few hundred demonstrators were able to 
visit the site with naturalists and observe this nature that needs to be 
preserved. Reenacting the "march of sticks" that took place in 
Notre-Dame-des-Landes in 2016 (as a commitment to return to defend the 
ZAD if the airport project was maintained), a few hundred people planted 
their sticks on the site. During the meal that followed, a press 
conference allowed representatives of the two organizing associations to 
present their criticisms of the project before giving the floor to the 
many elected officials (regional, national and European) mainly LFI and 
environmentalists. Finally, the march did not leave directly from this 
site, but following a carpool closer to the city center where other 
demonstrators had gathered. As desired by the organizers, it was a very 
family-friendly and festive demonstration following a structure 
representing a yellow-bellied toad. The hanging of banners and collages 
on the route did not constitute breaches of this determined but 
respectful parade.
Under the watchful eye (but at a reasonable distance) of numerous police 
forces, we were able to march through the streets of Guéret. The 
prefecture had blocked passage in front of its main entrance with a 
barrier that was unprecedented in Limousin: a wall of grilles and 
plexiglass plates behind which the cops were hiding. Symbolically, 
handfuls of pellets were thrown over the grilles of the backyard of the 
prefecture (renamed "Pelleture de la Creuse" by a banner for the 
occasion). One person was arrested during this episode... she had 
inadvertently confused a stepladder with a handful of pellets. She was 
released before the end of the demonstration, but this was not due to 
pressure from the demonstrators, whom the organizers ordered to go and 
listen to the speeches in progress at the town hall, a few dozen meters 
below, but due to the negotiation of the organizers of the 
demonstration. The energy of this demonstration was a pleasant surprise 
in the region. However, we can legitimately wonder whether it will be 
enough to abandon the project (the prefect is, it seems, perfectly 
narrow-minded) or whether more radical actions will have to be 
implemented. Some activists regret that the demonstration took this very 
conventional and festive turn and did not take place on the Farges 
factory site in Egletons, to stop it for at least one day... Actions 
directly damaging the wallets of these structures rather than their 
image may be necessary in the future to make our determination heard. 
And we must not forget the promise made to come and collect our sticks 
on site - that is to say, occupy the area - if the work were to begin!

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4293
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