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WE LOOK AT FRANCE’S ‘ZONES À DÉFENDRE’ ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST SITES (PRESENT AND PAST) AND THEIR AIMS Police cleared protesters from the A69 motorway project once again last weekend,

preventing the creation of a 'ZAD'. Radical environmentalists had attempted to set up a site to continually protest the motorway's construction, but over 1,500 police and

gendarmerie descended on the site to disperse the protestors. READ MORE: PROTESTORS REMOVED FROM A69 MOTORWAY PROJECT SITE IN SOUTH-WEST FRANCE We look at what ZADs are, where they are (and

have been) in France and what they aim to achieve. The acronym ZAD originally stood for _Zones d'Aménagement Différé_ (meaning deferred development zones) but this has often been

changed in recent years to _'Zones à défendre'_ in the media and general speech. This acronym refers to a procedure created in 1962 which allows local authorities to pre-emptively

purchase land for future developments. To prevent any speculation, the price reference is set at the value of the land one year before the creation of the ZAD. Since early 2010, however, the

acronym has become better known for standing for ‘_Zones à défendre_’ and designates the ten or so locations in France where protesters, ‘_zadistes_’, oppose large-scale development

projects they consider harmful for the environment or common good. In short, a ZAD is a place where a conflict has broken out between environmentalists and project owners. The area is

normally occupied by _zadistes_ so as to block the development of a project. The _zadistes _might establish themselves in the _Zone à défendre_, and sometimes create a community. They might

live and work there for an undefined period of time WHAT ARE SOME FAMOUS ZADS FROM THE PAST? E7 MOTORWAY PROJECT, BORDEAUX-VALENCE Demo against the E7 motorway project between

Bordeaux-Valence and the bypass at Oloron-Est. A ZAD was set up in June 2017 and the _zadistes _were expelled in late 2019. CENTER PARCS PROJECT, ROYBON FOREST (ISÈRE) From 2014 to 2020,

environmental activists settled in the Chambaran Forest near Roybon to fight against a Center Parcs development on a natural area of land. In 2020, the group Pierre et Vacances announced

that it had abandoned the project. CIGÉO PROJECT IN BURE (MEUSE) In 2016, opponents of the nuclear waste burial project, Cigéo, created a ZAD in a commune near Bure. The _zadistes _were

evicted by police in 2018. AIRPORT PROJECT AT NOTRE-DAMES-DES-LANDES This relates to a struggle against a project aiming to transfer the Nantes-Atlantique airport to Notre-Dame-des-Landes.

The _zadistes_ installed there claim they formed a real ‘society’. The airport transfer project was abandoned in 2018 and the site is now considered a ‘normalised ZAD’. AMASSADA IN

SAINT-VICTOR-ET-MELVIEU (AVEYRON) This involved a struggle against electricity network operator RTE's plan to build a high-voltage transformer to interconnect the region's wind

farms. In 2015, _zadistes _built a hut there and named it Amassada, ‘embassy’ in Occitan. More than 300 _zadistes_ were evicted in 2019. GRAND CONTOURNEMENT OUEST DE STRASBOURG PROJECT

_Zadistes_ opposed the toll motorway project 42 GCO, which involved the destruction of several hectares of farmland and forests. The _zadistes_ settled on the 24km of the future motorway.

They were evicted in 2019. URBANISATION PROJECT ON THE PLAINE DE MONTESSON (YVELINES) Called ZAD Patate, this unoccupied ZAD was used to fight against the urbanisation of this area where

potatoes are grown. SIVENS DAM PROJECT (TARN) This was in opposition to a dam project to create an artificial lake in the Tescou valley to facilitate the irrigation of surrounding farmland.

The project was abandoned in 2015 and a new dam project has been under consideration since 2019. THE INDUSTRIAL FARM IN BUIGNY-SAINT-MACLOU (SOMME) Demonstrations against a proposed

industrial farm, which nevertheless went ahead and is now home to a herd of 800 cows. HIGH SPEED RAIL PROJECT IN THE SUSA VALLEY (FRENCH-ITALIAN BORDER) A ‘No TAV’ ZAD was set up to fight

against the high-speed train line project between Lyon and Turin in the 1990s. EUROPACITY PROJECT IN GONESSE (VAL D’OISE) ZAD opposed the construction of EuropaCity, a mall belonging to the

Auchan group, on agricultural land in the Triangle de Gonesse. The project was abandoned by the government in 2019. GRAND PORT MARITIME DE NANTES-SAINT-NAZAIRE PROJECT IN FROSSAY

(LOIRE-ATLANTIQUE) Put on hold since 2020 following protests, this related to the creation of an industrial park "dedicated to marine eco-technologies". The _zadistes _were removed

in 2021. RELATED ARTICLES ANGER AS FRENCH ECOLOGISTS DEFLATE HUNDREDS OF SUV TYRES IN TOULOUSE MAP: SEE WHERE IN FRANCE MOTORWAYS ARE CURRENTLY PLANNED