ZAD de Notre-Dame-des-Landes

Part of the demonstration of 17 November 2012 at the ZAD de Notre-Dame-des-Landes

There had been plans since the 1960s to build an airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes (NDDL), which had been bitterly opposed by local farmers and environmentalists. As residents were evicted from their homes, they refused to leave and became squatters, joined by activists who built their own homes and lived in the trees.[2]

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Socialist prime minister and former mayor of Nantes, declared in 2012 "This airport will happen." [2] The attempt to evict the squatters began in October and was called Opération César. It was met with barricades made from human chains and farmers' tractors.[3] A headquarters of the resistance was the Châtaignerie, where there was a bar, communal kitchen and a communications office using pirate radio. It was protected by 40 tractors chained together.[2] The operation involved 2,000 police and eventually the government backed down because of the public support for the occupiers.[4]

Library at la Rolandière

In 2016, Aéroport du Grand Ouest (AGO), a subsidiary of VINCI Airports, began eviction proceedings against the last eleven families living on the disputed terrain. Over one thousand people attended the courtcase to support the farmers. On the previous weekend, 20,000 people had blocked traffic on regional roads.[5]

There were around 70 different networked sites on the ZAD by 2017. Amongst the self-organised projects there were vegetable plots, a bakery (making bread from locally grown grain), a brewery, a pirate radio station and a newspaper collective. There were also herds of cows, goats and sheep.[4]

French president Emmanuel Macron announced in January 2018 that the plans for the airport would be shelved and the already existing airport at Nantes would be reinvigorated instead. The prime minister, Édouard Philippe, said that the squatters would have until spring to leave.[6] This was a victory for campaigners who had fought for 50 years against the airport, using demonstrations, legal challenges, occupations (legal and illegal), sabotage and solidarity actions.[7]

On the ZAD itself, there were different reactions to the victory and looming eviction battle. Some people wanted to negotiate with the state to formalise their occupations and some wanted to remain autonomous. The D281 road had been closed by the state in 2013, then unofficially reopened and controlled by Zadistes.[8] When the local municipality demanded that it was opened again, opinions varied on whether it was good to show willingness to collaborate or if it was simply the first step in the state's plan to evict. After much debate, the road was reopened and the structures built on the road were moved. One house was moved twice and then was destroyed during the later eviction attempt.[9] These tensions resulted in a person from the non-negotiation camp being beaten up on March 20. Several masked people attacked La gaîté squat and took the man away tied up in the boot of a car. After being beaten up he was dumped outside a psychiatric hospital in Blain. On the same night there was an arson attack on a farm called La Freusière.[10]

Remains of a cabin destroyed by police in spring 2018 in the Rohanne Woods

In April 2018, a largescale eviction operation began as the French state tried to regain control of the autonomous zone. After the first morning (April 9), police claimed that 10 out of 97 squats had been evicted.[1] One evicted project was a farm called 100 Noms (100 Names) which had a barn and a herd of twenty ewes.[11] On the second day (April 10), squatters employed barricades of car tyres, wooden pallets, hay bales and electricity poles which they set on fire to hamper the police, who were bulldozing the self-built houses.[12] On day three (April 11), over a thousand people attended a picnic which was then attacked by the police. Places that were evicted included la Boite Noire, Dalle à Caca, Jesse James and la Gaité.[13]

After 10 days (April 19), the police had fired 11,000 projectiles. According to Europe 1 this could be broken down into almost 8,000 tear gas canisters and more than 3,000 stun grenades. The squatters reported 272 injuries, although they preferred to be vague on details since during the 2012 eviction attempt people reporting injuries had been arrested at the hospital (the police stated 77 officers had been wounded and also three journalists had been injured).[14]

Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced a halt to the eviction on April 26 and said it would be frozen until at least May 14. The state estimated that 29 projects had been destroyed and 60-70 still existed. The truce came about as representatives of the ZAD negotiated for legal recognition for 28 projects.[15] Some projects agreed to file individual claims, whereas other refused to participate in the process.[3] 1000 police officers were sent home, leaving 1500 at the ZAD.[16]

Fifteen out of the 28 submitted projects were accepted, including the proposals from 100 Noms to make wool from a herd of 80 sheep and to make buckwheat pancakes.[11]

On Thursday, May 17, the eviction operations resumed. According to the Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Travert, a dozen more sites would be evicted.[11] On Tuesday, May 22, 21 year old Maxime Peugeot had his right hand amputated after it was severely damaged by a projectile canister.[17]

Solidarity demonstration in Tours on 15 December, 2013

There were many solidarity actions worldwide in response to the 2018 eviction attempt. Le Monde published an open letter calling for people in the film industry to support the ZAD, which was signed by over 250 filmmakers, including Pedro Costa, Philippe Garrel and Aki Kaurismäki.[11]

In March, 2019, 100 Zadists supported 10 colleagues who were called as witnesses in a courtcase relating to the events of October 2018, when someone attacked a farmer at Bellevue with an axe and was escorted off the ZAD. Of the five people under investigation, 2 were in jail, 2 were not allowed to enter the ZAD and 1 could reenter the terrain. Representatives of the ZAD denounced the charges. The people were amongst those hoping to sign leases for their projects.[18]

Twenty projects on the ZAD opened their doors to visitors in April 2019. These included L’Ambazada, Bellevue, Le Liminbout, Le Moulin and La Vacherie.[19]

• Notre-Dame-des-Landes, au cœur de la lutte (2012) documentary by Pierrick Morin, 70 minutes.
• Le tarmac est dans le pré (2013) documentary by Thibault Férié, 52 minutes, screened in October 2013 on France 3.
• Des tracteurs contre des avions (2013) documentary by Christian Baudu, 31 minutes.
• Zad de NDDL, Lande habitée (2018) short film by Camille, 6 minutes.

• Website of ZAD de Notre-Dames-des-Landes (multiple languages)