Reporterre went to the Larzac plateau to read about an innovative and successful farmland management system. Forty years after the struggle that left its mark on the Aveyron plateau, young farmers continue to settle on these 1,000 km2 of land where alpacas and llamas are now reared, and craft breweries have sprung up. With the exception of the “children of Larzac”, most are urbanites in their thirties.
This model of self-management and collective ownership has been a success, particularly in terms of peasant satisfaction and population rejuvenation, yet it seems to have very few emulators. The reason, it is said, is that the French government does not want “a second Larzac”.
The spirit of the iconic struggle on the Larzac plateau in southern France lives on.
