Living environment

In 2010, Nantes, along with its metropolis, was chosen as European Green Capital for 2013, out of 17 European cities. Nantes is the fourth European city to win this award and the first in France.

This certification is the recognition of Nantes' commitment to the environment, after 20 years of efforts in various sectors: transport, waste management, noise pollution, urban planning, etc. This is a major achievement for Nantes, which has asserted its innovative environmental position.

 

 

 

Recognising the importance of biodiversity in the urban environment, the City created the Conseil Nantais de la Biodiversité in 2010. This Biodiversity Council, which is jointly coordinated by the City, the Metropolis of Nantes, local organisations and experts, has several missions:

• establishing a diagnosis of the biodiversity over the City's territory;
• setting up new monitoring tools;
• creating an information and interchange centre.

The council will be actively involved in the creation of the "Parcours Nantais de la Biodiversité", a biodiversity trail going through Nantes from east to west by 2014.

In 2010, Nantes Mayor and MP Jean-Marc Ayrault signed a natural gardens charter with the local gardeners organisations, within the scope of Agenda 21. It confirms the commitment of the City and local organisations in favour of sustainable development. For the organisations which manage the gardens and bring together nearly 1,000 families, this means promoting civic and environmental values. On the strength of this success, the offering of family gardens will continue to expand. For 2014, the objective is set at 1,000 plots.

 

 

 

 

In 2010, Nantes made major efforts to improve the living environment of its residents:

• SEVE, the City's green area service, organised major events focused on the passion for flowers "Fleurs de Passion", through participative plantings in the districts of Breil, La Beaujoire and Bellevue;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The City's flora events were a resounding success: "La Folie des Plantes" and "La Rose Parfumée" respectively attracted 40,000 and 8,000 visitors;

 

 

 

 

 

• New playgrounds have been set up (in Vertais, La Pilotière, Clos Toreau, etc.) and access has been improved for handicapped persons on numerous sites (La Beaujoire and La Gaudinière);

 

• Since the installation of automatic counters at the entrance to the parks, the City has more precise knowledge of the number of people going to the parks and gardens;

 

 

 

 

 

• SEVE offers educational activities to Nantes' school children on the topic of sustainable development. The Maison de l'Erdre, the Chantrerie farm and the Grand Blottereau park thus welcomed 6,825 children during the year.

 

 

 

 

 

• The preservation of the environment is at the heart of SEVE's action plan. The main lines of its objectives are the following:
  • reducing the volume of herbicides and pesticides by 90% in the space of 8 years, in order to re-establish an urban flora which increases biodiversity.
  • using the green waste as mulch in the flower beds, thereby avoiding the use of herbicides and reducing the plants' water requirements.
  • optimising the management of water: improving the quality of raw water by reducing the use of herbicides and promoting the capture of rainwater by installing tanks in all of the City's family gardens.

 

134 parks and gardens maintained, i.e. 1,050 hectares of green areas

359 playground units and 128 sports facilities installed and checked on a regular basis

1,300,000 visitors per year to the garden recently fitted with automatic counters: the Jardin des Plantes

Family gardens

• 925 garden plots in 2010 (11 more than in 2009)
• 700 families on waiting lists

Cost of work in the green areas

• €1,281,600 was dedicated to green areas in nine districts of the City.

Environment

• Amount of herbicides and pesticides used per square metre maintained: 0.038 g/m²
• 1,558 tons of green waste