Responsible tourism in France

The topic of responsible tourism in France is more concerned with what isn’t happening rather than what is – in Blighty, where people are working extra hours under the looming fear of recession-based redundancies, we all assume a 35-hour working week would be marvellous, but would we still feel the same if unemployment rates were surging up and our government were entirely at odds? From the outside looking in, it seems the French simply don’t want to work longer hours and this steadfast joie de vivre is pretty admirable, but there is significant miscommunication among the governmental powers that be too, which looks like a struggle that’s set to continue. Similarly, the lines surrounding hunting have become blurred because French farmers shouted loudly until they were given permission to use their guns again, which has rightly riled conservationists – it seems there are a lot of raised voices in France, but not much being listened to. Still, measures are at least being made to preserve silence in the mountains, where it is at its most golden, and, particularly in light of recent tragedies in Paris, we wouldn’t want to be in charge; fingers crossed France can muddle through its layers of miscommunication and bureaucracy and come out on top.

When the going gets tough, France is everyone’s ‘grass is greener’ good life fantasy: as tourists we aspire to their seemingly idyllic lifestyle that favours leisure time over long working weeks, but in reality France is in a disastrous economic situation with unemployment at a significant high – a problem that never offers a short term solution. Stagnated growth is not doing the budget deficit any favours and the country’s industry is less than competitive leading to factory closures and increased job losses.

When economy minister, Emmanuel Macron suggested perhaps France should consider an end to its indulgent 35-hour working week, he was met with complete shutdown from both the head of the CFDT, France’s largest trade union, and from the French PM. Discontent in the ranks indeed.

To outsiders looking in, a shorter working week and a two-hour break for lunch is an enviable lifestyle, but how can the French possibly maintain this without going bust? We might be lured in by their apparently laissez-faire attitude, but when the same laid back approach is applied to financial management and the prospect of future growth, it’s the young French in particular that are bearing the brunt. Youth unemployment lingers at around 25 percent, a figure that only looks healthy standing next to Spain. For France to begin its recovery the widening gap between educational equality among its youth needs to be bridged and Hollande’s strategy of cutting corporate taxes in exchange for the promise from companies to take on more workers (and hold on to those older ones too) needs to work.

What can you do?
Besides perhaps holding off on the idyllic move across the channel, unless of course your plans are to move to France and set up a fabulous initiative that directly benefits the French that most need benefitting, it’s important for us as tourists is put our money where our mouths are: spend money as freely as you can in France on enterprises that sustain local communities, such as small restaurants, shops, accommodation and locally-guided tours. High youth unemployment often results in an exodus to surrounding cities leaving local village communities struggling and rural ways of life lost; rural tourism therefore provides skilled work, income, and the incentive to maintain tradition – hugely beneficial.

The heady days of buying a second home abroad using equity released from soaring UK house values may be long gone, but France is still the favourite destination for those that are still buying overseas – from the Dordogne down the weather is far more clement than the bluster of Britain and property prices are more stable than struggling neighbour, Spain. While Brits (and other ‘non-residents’, but mainly Brits…) searching for a peaceful pied a terre may seem like a light-hearted topic, it’s actually a persistent bone of contention in France.

On the one hand, the invasion of holiday home seekers in France has been blamed for making some of its most quaint villages ‘seasonal’ and half-empty for much of the year, as well as forcing prices too high for the pockets of French locals. On the other, second-home owners have been lauded for contributing to activity in rural districts with lower populations where agriculture had been previously in decline, as well as preventing rural-urban migration among young French employed to work at rehabilitated B&Bs.

The plot has been made even thicker by the decision to slap steep ‘social charges’ on British and other ‘non-resident’ second home owners in France, which has been declared ‘unconventional’ and even ‘illegal’ by those in opposition – for second home owners who had owned their owned their property for less than 22 years, the capital gains tax on property sales hiked up from 19% to a whopping 34.5% in order to remove ‘an unjustified tax advantage’ and make things fairer between the resident French and the non-resident A. N Others. The reasons that make this murkier still are twofold: firstly, ‘fair’ is probably the last word any would apply to Hollande’s tax ‘reforms’, and secondly, it’s a tax, not a ‘social charge’ because foreigners can rightly claim that they don’t gain from as many social benefits as the French.

What can you do?
Both sides of the second home coin have argument in their favour. There are over 2 million empty homes in France and a relevant point may be that someone who lives there three times a year is better than no one at all, but it’s likely the key lies in the owners using their properties responsibly – if you have a second home in France, or are thinking about getting one, spend your money locally when there and employ local staff wherever relevant. Having said that, an invasion every summer and Easter does not a consistent community make and will likely serve to tear apart the social and cultural makeup of a place as well and push up property prices causing resentment from local people. Get the locals on your side and work out what your place will be in that society before you take the plunge.

The French happily hunted wolves to extinction back in the 30s, but in 1992 a sneaky alpha mating pair crossed the border from Italy and since then wolves have got their own back. Today there are a minimum of 300 individual wolves in around 25 packs spread throughout the French Alps, across the Rhone Valley into Massif Central and up the country’s eastern border, and under the Berne Convention and European Law, the wolf is a protected species and can no longer be hunted or poisoned.

Until now… due to a rise in wolf attacks on farm animals and much protest from farmers across France, the government has passed a ‘wolf plan’ under which 24 wolves can be legally ‘removed’ annually. The role that began as an official culling job for states marksmen however has now been extended to ‘wolf lieutenants’ too and today wolves can be shot in ordinary hunts, or in areas where they can be ‘seen to pose a problem’ – a subjective opinion and one that has conservation groups who view a return to wolf hunts as archaic and scandalous up in arms.



Controversial further still is the smoke screen that conveniently blurs the facts on bear hunting in France. In 2004, hunters shot dead the last brown bear native to the Pyrenees, condemning the species to extinction and causing what the French government called ‘an environmental catastrophe’. Since then, 22 brown bears from Slovenia have been reintroduced to the Pyrenees as part of an official programme in a move that also ups the status of the mountain range as one of the last great strongholds of the European brown bear in southern Europe. Farmers have long countered that the bears are unwelcome and kill their livestock and hunters have shot several brown bears, allegedly by mistake, though if a practiced hunter accidentally shoots an enormous endangered brown bear perhaps said hunter shouldn’t be handling a gun.

Throughout history wolves have had a reputation for killing on an almost mythical level, but French public opinion is very much on the wolf’s side with a 2014 poll concluding that 80 percent of French people wanted wolves to be protected from farmers, rather than sheep from wolves. France should also be given credit for trying to act with ethical guidelines to address the problem – even if you agree with the practice of culling as a whole – and the implementation of special fencing, similar to electric fencing, that has proved effective in reducing both livestock predation and reducing angry retaliation from farmers.

What can you do?
Don’t hunt, and definitely don’t tell a hunter if you see a brown bear. Apart from that, you’re best bet is to support any tourist initiatives that centre on either seeing wild animals in their natural environments, or keeping them happy there.

It is not just the slopes, forests and precious alpine tundra that needs protecting around France’s beautiful mountain regions, it is also the air. And the ambience. Mountain Wilderness, a mountain conservation organisation created in Biella, Italy, in 1987, leads important campaigns to protect wild mountain places. They define these as “any untouched mountain environment where anyone who so wishes may come into direct contact with the wide-open spaces, experience solitude, silence, rhythms, natural dimensions, laws and dangers.”

The most recent campaign is ‘Silence’, launched in October 2014, whereby climbers ascended to a height of 3,400m at the Col du Geant, Mont Blanc, and created an installation using plastic bags laid out in giant letters which read ‘Silence!’ This is aimed at the growing number of privately chartered tourists planes and helicopters, which are currently destroying this rare natural gift of silence on Europe’s highest mountain. Many of these flights are offered as ‘prizes’ to skiers by ski resorts, as incentives to book with them for the season. There is now rarely a moment of total silence, without hearing tourist propellers, echoes and engines overhead.

Waste is always an issue in France’s trekking regions, so it is always worth reminding yourself of the Leave No Trace principles before you go. This organisation is the font of all knowledge and training when it comes to environmental protection and outdoor activities. It all seems like common sense and, in general, walkers love the environment and are extremely protective of it. However, this doesn’t explain the wasters who leave things behind like disposable barbeques, cigarette butts, banana skins, chewing gum, drinks bottles and even pop up tents. Leave no trace also means leaving nature as you find it, so don’t pick wildflowers please.

Let’s not beat about the bush, the waste issue also relates to human waste. Bring bags with you, and take your faeces away. The two highest toilets in Europe are to be found on Mont Blanc. They are serviced by helicopter in order to deal with the amount of human waste, which spreads down the mountain, calling it a ‘Mont Noir’ when the snow melts. Eugh.

What you can do
Avoid the temptation of travelling over France’s beautiful mountain regions by plane or helicopter, even if the views are spectacular. And support the invaluable work of Mountain Wilderness by following their projects on social media/blogs and so on. Before you squat, think about the unpleasant sight of shite left behind - local people have to clear it up along with all the other rubbish that shouldn’t be there. Shovel it and shift it.

Photo credits: [Local shop: Bert Kaufmann] [Wolves: Lucy Kitsunè Mj]