When culture goes hand in hand with nature: our commitments to the environment

More than 3,500 hectares of green spaces are open to the public across 67 of our monuments. To preserve these parks and gardens whilst respecting the environment, we can count on 80 experts in the art of gardening and the conservation of plant heritage.

Our nature conservation initiatives take many different forms: inventories of flora and fauna, recommendations for ecological management, educational activities for visitors…

Our teams maintain and conserve historic gardens from all periods.

An example? The grounds of the Château de Maisons, a masterpiece of the Grand Siècle, have undergone an extensive landscaping project, which was unveiled in September 2021. This work drew on the history of the château since its construction by François Mansart to restore the gardens to their former splendour. Around a hundred trees were planted, paths were redesigned, and lawns and a vast flower-filled meadow were laid out…

Maintaining gardens without using plant protection products? It’s possible! 

The CMN strictly complies with the Labbé Act, which, since 1 January 2017, has prohibited public bodies from using plant protection products in green spaces, on roads, in public recreational areas and in forests open to the public. 

However, as early as 2011, the CMN’s teams sought to prioritise alternative and eco-friendly solutions to achieve the ‘zero pesticides’ objective. At Angers Castle, for example, weeding is carried out by hand; the release of lacewings (polyphagous insects) helps to control mites and aphids; and natural traps help to combat the box tree moth.

The Carnac Alignments, Fort Saint-André, the fortress of Salses and many other monuments practise eco-grazing. The vegetation there is maintained thanks to… sheep! 

This means there is no need for machinery or weedkillers. A positive knock-on effect: the sheep’s droppings are a feast for certain insects, which in turn provide food for animals such as bats.

They’re foraging in our gardens! Apiary hives have been set up at several of our historic sites, including the Saint-Cloud estate, the Villa Cavrois and the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau. Bees help with pollination and ensure our parks are full of flowers.

Our historic sites are not the only treasures worth preserving. They are also home to particularly vulnerable wild flora and fauna .

A great many species of birds nest in our ramparts, walls and attics: the hoopoe, the swallow, the kestrel, the peregrine falcon, the blue tit, the great tit, the song thrush and the eagle owl…

Since 2014, 17 LPO bird sanctuaries have been established within our monuments, notably at the Château de Bussy-Rabutin, the Château d’Aulteribe, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, the fortified village of Mont-Dauphin and the archaeological site of Glanum…

But it’s not just birds! Bats, reptiles and amphibians also inhabit our monuments. 

Since 2008, the CMN has been implementing the Natura 2000 Charter, a European network of outstanding areas that are essential for the survival of certain threatened species. The aim? To halt the loss of biodiversity by preserving habitats and species that are already becoming scarce.

This charter applies in particular to the fortress of Salses for the protection of chiroptera (bats), and to the Château d’If, situated on a small island that is home to nearly 400 plant species, around a hundred bird species – some of which are protected – as well as seabeds featuring exceptional habitats.

During the restoration of its ramparts, temporary shelters were even set up for the European leaf-footed gecko, a species under threat.

The fifth cohort of our start-up incubator, the Heritage Incubator, is focusing for the first time on the theme of the green transition. Its aim is to encourage the development of green and innovative solutions in the heritage sector: sustainable transport, digital simplicity, carbon-neutral data centres, greening initiatives… Visit our Innovation section to find out more.