Les Causses et les Cévennes, patrimoine mondial de l'humanité

Cultural landscape of Mediterranean agro-pastoralism

The grandiose natural setting of the Causses and the Cévennes contains a variety of landscapes which are the combined work of nature and man…Limestone plateaux of the causses dissected by gorges and valleys – razor-sharp ridges and deep valleys in the schist of the Cévennes – high granite summits of Mont Lozère and Mont Aigoual: a variety of landscapes that nevertheless form part of the same series. They owe their unity to a culture patiently developed over many thousands of years: the Mediterranean agro-pastoral culture.This culture, evidence of an agrarian history found nowhere else, is today embodied in these landscapes, on the one hand in the tangible and intangible heritage which conserves the memory of the major stages of its formation, and on the other hand in the approach which has been adopted over the last two decades to ensure its modernisation and sustainable development.

Landscapes have been shaped by a thousand years of history.

Living landscapes, The Causses and the Cévennes benefitted from the development of agro-pastoralism which is still practiced today. The maintenance of vast areas of well-conserved landscapes of a euro-Mediterranean type confers even more value on the territory, a living conservatoire of ways of making the most of mountain landscapes. Today, the transhumance routes still criss-cross the land and act as links between the Causses and the Cévennes.

Outstanding, protected heritage, The Causses and the Cévennes have a wealth of outstanding landscape, natural and cultural heritage. The architectural heritage, whether monuments or more modest buildings related to agro-pastoralism, receives particular attention from organisations in the region which work to protect and enhance it.