Culture and the environment in France

Although the French concern for environmental protection dates back several centuries, a committed movement toward environmental protection did not begin until the second half of the 19th century. The Romantic influence of Rousseau and others led to the formation of various societies aimed at protecting the French landscape.Until the most recent environmental crusades of the 1960s and 1970s, the cause of protecting the natural environment seemed to fall largely on the shoulders of scientists and anglers, who voiced their concern over increasing environmental degradation in pamphlets and recreational journals. Their pressure aided in the passage of legislation on water quality.During the 1960s, environmental organizations proliferated and, in league with student activists, played an important role in raising the environmental consciousness of the French. During the 1970s, these activists began to turn to traditional political mobilization as a way of drawing attention to their platform. Environmental activism reached its peak with the antinuclear rallies of the late 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, many environmental associations had grown up in the French culture, but the future of environmentalism remains questionable owing to a number of economic realities, including the oil crisis, which made nuclear power much more acceptable to the public.