Paris (AFP)

Several hundred people gathered on Sunday in front of the Paris City Hall to denounce the "massive urbanization" of Ile-de-France, the conclusion of several "land marches" which left the four corners of the region the day before. .

"Save Grignon from concrete", "Fertile plateau, Saclay in peril" ... the demonstrators denounced the real estate pressure and the development projects like the Grand Paris Express which nibble fertile plots around the capital, in their eyes essential to biodiversity and the fight against climate change.

"We want to preserve what we have, not to have concrete" for "the storage of carbon, the diversity of cultivated species, the refuge of animals ...", she continued.

Alongside the many organizing collectives, some elected officials were present, including the LFI deputy Mathilde Panot or the regional environmentalist Ghislaine Senée.

The latter deplored the "pious wishes" of the majority led by Valérie Pécresse, who wants to establish the rule of "zero net artificialization", and called for more use of vacant and wasteland housing to respond to real estate pressure.

Saturday, the demonstrators had started from four points of contestation - Triangle de Gonesse (Val-d'Oise), Val Bréon (Seine-et-Marne), plateau de Saclay (Essonne) and Thoiry (Yvelines) - to rally the capital city.

Banners for the defense of agricultural land in Ile-de-France, October 10, 2021 on the gates of the town hall of Paris THOMAS SAMSON AFP

The marches from Gonesse and Val Bréon met on Saturday at the Aubervilliers gardens, threatened by a project dedicated to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

"We want to keep our food lands," said Catherine Caltaux, one of the cyclists from Val Bréon on Saturday.

"These are projects that make no sense," added Sarah Poisson, who grew up in this agricultural region and lamented these "deprived towns" marked by "expanses of enormous warehouses".

In recent years, around 1,500 hectares of agricultural land have been transformed into urban areas each year, estimates the Ile-de-France chamber of agriculture.

© 2021 AFP