Heritage: a unifying factor for the governance of protected areas? The example of the Brouage marshes (Charente-Maritime)

Noting the conflictual nature of the environmental protection of spaces at local level, this article offers an analysis of this process as a period in which heritage status is conferred upon spaces, and shows how questions of power, appropriation and promotion play a role in the redefinition of these spaces and contribute to a new form of territorial governance. Applied to an artificial space reclaimed from the sea (the Brouage marshes), drained in the 19th century, redefined as endangered 'wetlands', and protected in the 20th century, this contribution first of all identifies what constitutes a heritage space for the stakeholders concerned, before going on to analyse the extent to which the objects, material goods and values associated with heritage can be a unifying factor, in spite of diverging views, with regard to shared issues and projects promoting co-evolution and co-adaptation between nature and society. The method brought into play calls upon the analysis of opinions expressed by different actors in the course of semi-structured interviews, the mapping of their spatial representations of heritage areas, and a questionnaire-based survey revealing the perceptions of users – both permanent and temporary – regarding the spaces and heritage areas concerned.