The Bocage: A Study of Landscape Perceptions in Normandy

After the Second World War, modernisation processes such as the industrialisation of agriculture transformed the Norman bocage, a landscape defined by hedgerow networks. In order to keep up with the living landscape evolving towards modern agriculture, the bocage was subject to massive removal during a period of land consolidation. Today, knowledge about environmental degradation and climate change have become common knowledge, and sustainable development is on the agenda worldwide. Subsequently, the bocage, its many ecological functions and environmental roles have been redefined. Instances of management and policymaking at varying scales introduce measures to conserve remaining hedgerows, and plant new ones. Yet, the people involved in the practicalities of the hedgerow and its maintenance are mostly farmers. For farmers, the hedgerows surrounding their fields remain a cost and burden that does not belong in modern agriculture, despite their knowledge on its ecological advantages. The bocage, like all cultural landscapes can only be protected through use and operation, and must be part of the living landscape on an equal footing with what is cultivated and the livestock that grazes. Different approaches to how the landscape shall be used and operated lead to cultural cleavages and conflicts. Through interviews, this thesis aims to explore, describe and understand different opinions and perspectives on the Norman bocage of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Drawing on concepts of landscape and modernity, I unpack the physical changes in land use and the perceptions of landscapes thereof.