Photo by A. DuboismenuDon’t let France erase 30,000 community lands
International expression of solidarity against proposed law threatening more than 30,000 commons
26 October 2026
Sign to support the protection of France’s sections de commune
The French government is currently debating whether to abolish sections de commune, an important type of commons or territory of Local Communities in France. Starting November 3, 2026, the French Senate will discuss Law Proposal 782, which seeks to dissolve more than 30,000 ‘sections de commune’ in mainland France. While they are not the only type of commons in France, and others include consortages, olhak, prud’homies de pêche, écluses à poissons, canaux d’irrigation, and marais, the ‘sections de commune’ are the most numerous and geographically widespread. These territories are governed by communities that are deeply interconnected through hundreds of years of sustainable farming, pastoralism, forestry, hunting, gathering, and water governance. They prioritize local management, giving residents first access to natural resources, who in turn, care directly for these resources which are critical for their livelihoods. These lands and their historical buildings also provide recreational, touristic, environmental, social, and economic services.
By contrast, the emerging urban commons in many French cities, are seen as vibrant and contributing to society. And commons are promoted internationally by the French Development Agency. For the rural commons, the discourse is very different: since the 19th century, the French government has claimed that Local Community lands are old-fashioned and poorly managed, using this to justify “modernization.” On this basis, it has slowly eroded Local Communities’ rights to their traditional lands in a process called “commons-grabbing.”
The 2013 legal reform followed the same reasoning: believing it had found the ultimate solution, the state removed self-governance from most of these community territories and handed the responsibility to the municipalities, while the communities retained user rights and land tenure. No rights-holders were consulted. This approach failed. Conflicts with municipalities increased, as they no longer had Local Community representatives and assemblies with whom to discuss the management of their natural resources and territories. It also led to the permanent transfer of many sections de commune to the municipalities, after which the land could be built on, sold, or converted to other uses, including industrial agriculture and forestry.
The proposed law to be debated 3rd November 2026 continues to describe these commons as “outdated systems, the management and very existence of which are no longer appropriate”, while it provides no evidence to support these statements. The proposed law encourages state-led commons-grabbing, by “transferring” community lands to the municipalities, encouraged by a tax levy.
Law Proposal 782 seeks to:
- Impose a tax on each right-holder, explicitly encouraging them to give up their rights.
- Expand the powers of municipal councils to dispossess communities of their lands.
- Make self-governance harder for the largest sections de commune by significantly increasing the territory size threshold that qualifies legally for self-governance (and so has a right to a governance body).
Warning: If this law passes, the same methods could be used to remove the rights of other communities, namely through the removal of governance, the levying of special taxes, and the facilitation of the municipalization of land (commons-grabbing).
For more information on why sections de commune important to maintain and how other European countries legally recognize and support similar local community territories, please consult the ICCA Consortium Alert.
Call to Action addressed to the government of France
- Consult all rights-holders about the future of their sections de commune before debating the proposed law, in line with the international norm of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
- Commission independent studies on the sections de commune so that law proposals rely on scientific evidence rather than repeating unsupported and unempirical claims that have been made for over 200 years, stating that these territories are “old-fashioned and serve no purpose.” This logic was debunked by the Nobel Prize-winning research of Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues.
- Assess the economic costs the state would take on if 30,000+ sections de commune became entirely government-managed instead of community-managed that imply little to no cost to the public treasury.
- Assess the environmental impact of transferring 30,000+ sections de commune to the municipalities.
- Consider the implications of this law for France’s ability to comply with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF).
- Consider the implications and lost potential for implementing the European Union’s (EU) Nature Restoration Law, Biodiversity strategy and the Farm to Fork strategy in a truly participative and community-based manner.
- Consider the impact of the loss of sections de commune on future generations.
- Change the law to promote these territories as places of social cohesion, intergenerational transmission, local democracy, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and a wide range of other services and important for local livelihoods and society at large.
Endorsement by organizations
By endorsing these demands, organizations across the world can play a pivotal role in holding the French government accountable for its actions. We call on governments, international human rights organizations, and the global public to stand in solidarity with French local communities in their struggle for land justice.
In Solidarity with French Commons #landrightsnow