Etienne Maury

The Gorges du Tarn. Les Vignes, 11 January 2017. This landscape is well-known and appreciated by hundreds of thousands of tourists every summer. Located in the "optimal" (recommended) adhesion zone, the municipality chose not to renew its adhesion t

A parking lot set up for the influx of tourists in the summer season, in the Gorges du Tarn. Saint-Georges de Lévéjac, January 11, 2017.

The local soccer field. Le Pont-de-Montvert, February 26, 2016. It is located on the closest large enough flat surface, a few kilometers away from the village.

A trailer waiting for the coming summer. Sainte-Énimie, January 11, 2017. Tourism is a major economic income for the remote area of the Cévennes, and two visions cohabit: The first considers the National Park as restraining development activities, t

Fabien Chaptal, a shepherd, leads his animals off their sheepfold. Mivajols, February 22, 2016. Livestock farming is a traditional activity and an important economic sector in the Cévennes. Due to the isolation of the region and the rugged landscape

Felipe Mourao, a lumberjack, heads back to his truck after a day of work. Barre des Cévennes, January 16, 2017. Wood cutting activities are the third major economic activity in the region. Planning is made together by the Park administration and the

Wood logs on the side of a road. Florac, February 23, 2016.

Locals gather sawdust for their dry-toilets at a sawmill. Cocurès, January 12, 2017. Many locals have a strong environmentalist point of vue and have developed a strong relationship with their environment.

Yves Commandré (c.) and two friends prepare a pig. Fraissinet de Lozère, January 19, 2017. The tradition of the "tue-cochon", though not specific to the Cévennes, is widely practiced in the farms of the region. Cheap, token of quality and environmen

A panorama of the South of the Cévennes National Park. Saint-Maurice de Ventalon, January 18, 2017. In the middle-ground, a firebreak. The Cévennes area, located in southern France, often face hot summers. Resinous tree forests are easily set ablaze

Christophe during a stalking hunt. Le Pont de Montvert, February 25, 2016. Hunting is allowed in the Cévennes National Park, with restrictions set up by the Park administration and local hunter associations.

A hunting trophy in a pub. Le Pont-de-Montvert, February 23, 2016. Hunting is a traditional activity in the region, as well as a way to ensure meat for the household. It also helps to manage the population of large mammals such as wild boars and cer

A shepherd dog of "patou" breed. Fraissinet de Lozère, January 17, 2017. They are specially trained to protect cattle from wolf attacks. The natural alpha hunter used to inhabit the region, but was eradicated by cattle farmers centuries ago. The ide

The sheepfold of a familial farm. Mijavols, February 22, 2016.

A wild sheep surveillance event. Valleraugue, March 19, 2016. Countings of animal species are common in the Park, and provide for information on the populations, then used to determine hunting quotas. Often made together by the Park administration a

A Menhir dating back to around 2000 B.C. Cham des Bondons, February 23, 2016. Pre-historical human activities are widely documented in the Cévennes, and today's natural beauty of the landscapes seems to indicate that man and nature lived in a relati

Life in the Cévennes National Park

There are ten National Parks on the French territory. In these, biodiversity is deemed worthy to be protected for our future generations. Local residents and regional development plans have to comply with a specific environmental legislation, enforced by rangers. Each park has it's own historical and social background, but they cover four different climates with strong specific human/nature relationships: mountainous, Mediterranean, continental and tropical. De facto, they are the largest laboratories for cohabitation between man and nature in our country.

This chapter takes place in the Cévennes National Park – and is one of the four chapters that will match the four climates-. It focuses on agropastoralism and the necessity to maintain a sustainable human activity to look after this nature, shaped by millenaries of cattle farming.

This project is still ongoing. An other chapter, focusing on the Port-Cros National Park, is available here: http://hanslucas.com/emaury/photo/6641#

Etienne Maury

Etienne Maury is a photographer and multimedia director based in the French Alps. Following on scientific studies, he shifted to documentary photography and followed the photojournalism section of the EMI-CFD school in Paris. His first essays were focused on sidelined communities, among others Navajos fighting for their ancestral lands in Arizona, and integration of Armenian orphans in the Lebanese society. He also pursued a long-term multimedia project on dubstep music and its appeal to a generation, from the underground to main stages around the world.

For the last years, he turned his interest to environmental stories and cohabitation between humans and nature around them. Since 2014, he explores French National Parks and their inhabitants and dedicated much of 2016 as the filmmaker and interactive director on an ongoing transmedia project on the stakes surrounding forests in the DR-Congo, the second largest tropical forest basin in the world.