What the law says when you hike

No, it has no regulatory power No. A regional nature park has no regulatory power: it can ban neither building, nor hunting, nor land use. Ordinary law applies there, and the park undertakes to see that it is respected.

A fourth-class fine A fourth-class fine: one hundred and thirty-five euros, reduced to ninety, increased to seven hundred and fifty. Until 2022, users enjoyed a general right to cross unfenced private land.

Banned outside groomed trails and marked snowshoe routes Banned outside groomed ski trails, marked snowshoe routes and the La Serra to Massacre forest road link. Whatever form they take.

Snowshoeing Snowshoeing. Banning hiking, especially on paths, remains very exceptional. It is off-path winter activity that is the most regulated.

Winter hikes in wooded areas Winter hikes in wooded areas. This is the example the reference document uses to show what each reserve decides for itself.

They still avoid disturbing wildlife and leaving the paths They hold back. Do not disturb wildlife, especially in winter, stay on paths and avoid shortcuts, do not pick anything even if it is not protected, do not walk in wetlands or trample peat bogs, avoid walking up streams. The reference document makes this a rule of the job, not an option.

Eleven Eleven, covering nearly ten per cent of the country: Vanoise, Port-Cros, Pyrénées, Cévennes, Écrins, Mercantour, Guadeloupe, La Réunion, French Guiana, Calanques and Forêts, the most recent, created in 2019.

A habitat essential to the survival of protected species A biotope, that is a habitat essential to the existence of species of fauna and flora, for the survival of protected species.

The capercaillie The capercaillie. These Jura forests are covered by a prefectoral biotope protection order for this bird, for which winter is the most critical time.

Undergo an assessment of its impacts Undergo an assessment of its impact, aimed at preventing actions that could have significant negative effects.

The OFB, park and reserve wardens, the ONF The bodies that make up the environmental police: the French Biodiversity Office, national park and nature reserve wardens, and the National Forestry Office.

No, each has its own Each has its own, according to its objectives. Some ban picking orchids, others allow hunting, like the Sabot de Frotey reserve in Haute-Saône.

About 2,700 classified sites, 4% of the country About two thousand seven hundred classified sites and four thousand listed sites, or four per cent of the country. The Crêt de la Neige and the Mont-Blanc massif are among them.

Yes, in some strict biological reserves Yes. The Lauvitel valley, in the Écrins national park, is closed to the public. Strict or managed biological reserves can apply stricter rules than the rest of the core zone.

Only by a targeted, justified exemption Only by a protected species exemption, limited in time and in number, duly justified, and outside normal hunting. It must not harm the maintenance of the species in a favourable conservation status.

An order bans deliberately disturbing it The order of 12 December 2005 bans the deliberate disturbance of the bearded vulture, which in practice limits photography. Other orders relating to protected species have the same effect.

Yes, in addition to the national and regional lists Yes. There is a national list, regional lists and departmental lists, the latter often covering species of local popular use, such as the bilberry, for which they regulate the quantities or the way it is picked.

The regional nature park The regional nature park. Enforceable protections are: biotope protection orders, nature reserves, natural habitat protection orders, strict state biological reserves, national park core zones, geotope protection orders and Natura 2000.

Prefectoral natural habitat protection order Arrêté préfectoral de protection d'habitat naturel, a prefectoral natural habitat protection order. Along with the biotope order and the geotope order, it is among the rules enforceable against users.

Strict state biological reserve Réserve biologique domaniale intégrale, a strict state biological reserve. Public access can be banned completely there.

No, and the ban applies up to two hundred metres from woods No. The forestry code forbids anyone other than the owner or occupier to carry or light fire on this land and up to two hundred metres from woods and forests. Carrying fire includes stoves, lighters and cigarettes.

Banned outside roads open to traffic Banned, outside roads open to public traffic. Four-wheel drives, quads, snowmobiles and snowcats are all concerned. Public services, owners on their own land and professionals are exempt from this rule.

No, but prefects can set some No, not at present. Non-hunting days can, however, be set by prefects at departmental level, either for all game species or for some of them.

Deliberately destroying, removing or damaging nests and eggs Deliberately destroying, removing or damaging nests and eggs. Game species cannot be destroyed outside the rules of hunting law.

No, the machine is only for supplies No. The snowmobile must be used exclusively for supplies, and only if no other mechanical means exists. Checking motor vehicles in natural areas is a priority for the environmental police, and the penalty can go as far as seizure of the vehicle.

From 1 June to 30 September inclusive From 1 June to 30 September inclusive. It mainly concerns Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and can lead to the temporary closure of mountain sectors.

From 15 April to 30 June From 15 April to 30 June, under the order of 16 March 1955. It is the nesting period, when a straying dog causes extra disturbance.

One hundred metres One hundred metres, or as soon as it is out of earshot or out of range of any sound device used to call it back. This is article L211-23 of the French Rural and Maritime Fishing Code.

No, they are banned Banned, as in the vast majority of nature reserves and in many other protected areas. Elsewhere, the rule sometimes stops at keeping dogs on a lead, as in the Contamines-Montjoie reserve on the Tour du Mont-Blanc.

No, never No. The order regulates dogs all year round, with limited exceptions: police and rescue dogs, sheepdogs working with flocks, hunting dogs during the authorised period. Its 2019 revision further tightens access from 15 December to 30 June.

No No. A forest path is understood broadly: forest roads, tracks and paths, including long-distance GR trails, and all walking paths. Forestry extraction lanes, firebreaks and plot boundaries are not.

Offences of hunting on another's land, without a licence and out of season Offences of hunting on another's land, hunting without a licence and hunting out of season depending on the period. It is one of the least known risks of letting a dog off the lead in a forest.