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Summary:
In
memoriam : Lithobius drescoi
(millipede) ; Urbi et orbi in
Mongolian ; Sommaire en français (avec
résumés des articles).
PROBLÉMATIQUES ET DÉBATS
Sustainable development, a "new approach"? (Isabelle Stengers) ; Significant areas for agricultural activities and for environmental and landscape issues (Jean-Pierre Deffontaines and Pascal Thinon) ; Recycling household waste: a question of citizenship (Patrick Jolivet) ; Decision, expertise, arbitrariness and transparency: elements of sustainable development (Pierre-Frédéric Ténière-Buchot) ; What is a gene? A brief reminder of the concept (Hervé Le Guyader).
The French Agricultural Scenery - Highlights
(Repères dans le paysage agricole français)
Our demands towards the well-being of animals (Florence Burgat) ; Leguminosae: the economical issues (Philippe Pointereau) ; The consequences of the next energy crisis on the occupation and exploitation of land in France (Jacques Hamon - Dominique Dron) ; In the deep dark forest... (Jean-Pierre Volatron).
Other landmarks, other landscapes (Autres repères, autres paysages)
The saga of transgenic "golden rice" (Robert Brac de la Perrière , Inf'OGM)
* Plants: their use and legal status (Marie Veuillot)
Abstracts
[R] Sustainable development, a
"new approach"?
"Sustainable development is based on a "new approach" to agriculture. Many
people are sceptical and one can only understand them. Few notions are based
on such confused ideas. Few notions undergo so many different interpretations.
Sustainable development is supposed to replace environment conservation and
this may lead to a real regression. The main aim of conservation was to put
a limit to development and the latter now seems to be the central point,
once again."
This article re-examines the organisation of research as regards sustainable
development and relates the scientific facts behind the political
decisions.
By Isabelle Stengers
Care of La Découverte, 9bis, rue Abel-Hovelacque, 75013 Paris.
istenger@ulb.ac.be
[R] Significant areas for agricultural
activities and for environmental and landscape issues
Farming is an activity based on the use of natural resources. The main function
of agriculture is to produce farm products, yet other diverging functions
are now appearing. Farming activities now consist in protecting the quality
of public commodities such as water and even the air we breath. They also
involve protecting the environment from erosion, fires and the deterioration
caused by biodiversity. Agriculture must also meet our growing demands as
regards the landscape. Some of these functions were traditionally ensured
by agriculture but its evolution and the evolution of society have increased
these functions and rendered them more demanding and problematic.
The pluri-functionality of agriculture thus leads to the association of
functional farming areas and areas where environmental and landscape issues
are important.
By Jean-Pierre Deffontaines and Pascal Thinon
JP.Deffontaines@wanadoo.fr
thinon@versailles.inra.fr
[R] Recycling household waste: a
question of citizenship
The treatment and elimination of household waste (22 million tons per year
in France) does not only concern the state and industrials but also households
in general and in two different ways.
On the one hand, reducing waste at the source would lead the general public
to buy environment friendly products ("green" products, labelled products,
etc.). On the other hand, it would lead people to use selective waste collection
infrastructures more frequently (selective waste containers, tips, etc.).
The first aspect implies a notion of citizenship and responsibility as it
is for the individual to choose environment friendly products. The second
aspects regards a policy that is dealt with from "higher up".
The author considers these facts from a micro-economic point of view implying
that consumers' preferences are shown in the choices they make. Patrick Jolivet
thus underlines the fact that "citizen-like consumption" lies on strong and
barely realistic hypotheses implying a continuous and rational environmental
attitude on the behalf of consumers (well-informed, environmental preference
shown in the products they buy). He concludes that waste sorting is more
a discontinuous rational environmental attitude as the problem is not dealt
with at the source, i.e. consumers do not consider the environment when buying
a product.
By Patrick Jolivet
Centre d'économie et d'éthique pour l'environnement et le
développement, université de
Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
47, bd Vauban, 78047 Guyancourt cedex
patrick.jolivet@c3ed.uvsq.fr
[R] Decision, expertise, arbitrariness
and transparency: elements of sustainable development
A seminar on "the values and representations of the environment" was held
in the Abbaye de Royaumont, in May 2001.
On a similar basis, a workshop called "Communication and representations
of water" will be organised (by the "club ECRIN" - Society and Environment
Club) to confront the different points of view and powers involved, to allow
the participants to express their thoughts and orient them towards a common
vision, but also to assemble them in networks and improve communication,
a vital element in water management.
This article was presented at Royaumont and constitutes an introduction to
the project. There are four parts to the article: a reminder of what exactly
is sustainable development, a few words on the decisions taken, a cynical
glance on the nature of the different experts and a few suggestions on how
to move from arbitrariness to a more controlled organisation.
"The conclusion of the article is followed by an appendix analysing the structure
of the last part of the Royaumont seminar. The aim of this appendix is to
see, beyond the terms used, which words, notions and concepts overrule the
others, but also to acknowledge why it is important to consider such questions
and what should be said about them".
By Pierre-Frédéric Ténière-Buchot
pf.teniere-buchot@unep.nl
[R] What is a gene? A brief
reminder of the concept
For all and sundry, the advent of molecular biology led to the elaboration
of a clear definition of genes. This can go from the most simple definition
such as "a fragment of DNA" to a more complicated and elaborate one. Nobody
can deny the fact that there is an obvious relationship between genes and
DNA, but this relationship has now become so complex that the concept of
"genes" seems to have lost some of its clarity, as opposed to most generally
accepted ideas. As a matter of fact, this concept has evolved so much that,
to understand the current appreciation problems and their consequences, it
is necessary to follow the two theoretical and experimental processes that
have been at the basis of the concept since the development of a major biological
discipline, genetics.
By Hervé Le Guyader
Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie (Paris 6), UMR 7622, Biologie du
développement, équipe Développement et évolution
Bâtiment B, 7e étage, 9, quai Saint-Bernard, Case 241, 75252
Paris cedex 05 France
Herve.Le-Guyader@snv.jussieu.fr
[R] Our demands towards the well-being
of animals
Several polls on the well-being of animals show that the general public disagrees
with the practices of industrial livestock farming that they associate with
confinement and mutilation.
This opinion is of course shared by animal protection associations and is
based on philosophical thoughts that come from the Antiquity. Florence Burgat
examines this point of view and then goes on to study the notion of social
demand. She considers that social demand is based on a common ethical ideal
which leads us to judge certain practices as being unethical, however these
practices may be conform to a more generally accepted morality and thus not
totally immoral.
By Florence Burgat
INRA-STEPE
Unité sur l'environnement, 63, bd. de Brandebourg, 94205
Ivry-sur-Seine
burgat@ivry.inra.fr
Leguminosae: the economical issues
Farmers have always known the importance of nutritious and fodder Leguminosae.
Until the industrial era, the latter were the main source of nitrogen. Nowadays,
nitrogen is abundantly spread over crops and it has become necessary to fight
against the surplus. The exaggerated use of nitrogen shows up the externalisation
of farming production means, a phenomena that began to occur in the 1960's
and which induces a loss of autonomy and of the added value of agriculture.
By Philippe Pointereau
SOLAGRO
40, rue Beau Site, 31500 Toulouse
solagro@compuserve.com
[R] The consequences of the next
energy crisis on the occupation and exploitation of land in France
France only has an energy autonomy of 5%. In this article, Jacques Hamon
successively examines aeolian and solar energy, "biofuel", wood and other
biomasses. This study leads him to conclude that although agronomy is healthy
in France, it would be extremely difficult to produce 20% of the energy consumed
in the country today… unless something extraordinary is discovered in
the near future.
In his commentary, Dominique Dron underlines the fact that J. Hamon has not
taken into consideration the improved energy efficiency of certain products
and organisations. He also adds the possibility of there being times of abundance
and times of rationing ("a hypoenergetic civilisation") in the near future…
thus making the subject a bit more dramatic.
By Jacques Hamon
4, rue du Coteau, 74240 Gaillard
Commentary by Dominique Dron
INRA - Direction générale, 147, rue de l'Université,
75338 Paris cedex 07
Dominique.Dron@paris.inra.fr
[R] In the deep dark
forest...
A story set in the Lot-et-Garonne department (South-West France). A tale
of telephone pylons, holes and air waves…
By Jean-Pierre Volatron
Le Petit Orme aux Loups, 371, route de Cléry, 45370 Dry
armelle.querbouet@wanadoo.fr
[R] The saga of transgenic "golden
rice"
Many people suffer from a deficiency in vitamin A and, to solve this problem,
specialists suggested an automatic intake of the vitamin thanks to genetically
modified rice. Ten years ago the idea may have caught on. However, science
has progressed in the field of deficiencies and we now know that this idea
cannot be taken seriously. The different authors examine these facts in three
chapters: - scientific uncertainties and real risks, - three million guinea-pigs
: undeveloped countries are subject to experiments, - the politico-financial
undercurrents.
By Robert Brac de la Perrière and Inf'OGM
dombrac@mnet.fr
[R] Plants: their use and legal
status
In order to study the legal status of plants one has to talk about their
different uses. Indeed, human beings have gradually discovered new ways of
using plants and it has thus been necessary to regulate these different uses.
The current concern about endangered species cannot be dissociated from the
use of these plants. Indeed, if the many exotic plants endangered by
deforestation were of no use to human beings, the latter would probably not
have gone to any trouble to protect them. Who owns the plants that men have
grown and "improved" for centuries? This question also stems from the different
ways plants are used. The discovery of drugs and their effects on individuals
has also led to the regulation and even the prohibition of certain plants
(in the pharmaceutical field, for instance). This article gives a general
vision of the legislation in place today as regards protected plants, new
varieties, GMOs and medicinal, cosmetic or phsycotropic plants. It does not
however deal with the nutritional aspects.
By Marie Veuillot
trainee at the ME&S during summer 2001
mariev@club-internet.fr
Translation: Nicola
Scott