CDC Biodiversité — Cossure Nature Compensation Site (France)

In 2008, CDC Biodiversité — a subsidiary of France's state-owned Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations — acquired 357 hectares of former orchard land at Cossure in Saint-Martin-de-Crau (Bouches-du-Rhône, southern France) and began restoring it to Crau steppic grassland, one of Europe's rarest semi-arid ecosystems. The two-year restoration removed approximately 200,000 fruit trees, 100,000 poplars, and over 1,000 km of irrigation and electrical infrastructure, at a total investment of €12.5 million.

Cossure became Europe's first supply-side nature compensation site, enabling developers who require ecological offset under French environmental law to purchase compensation units (UCs), each representing one hectare of restored and permanently managed steppic habitat with 30–35 years of monitoring. All available UCs have been sold or reserved. Scientific monitoring confirmed that the restored vegetation is favourable to steppe-specialist species, with documented return of the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus), great bustard (Otis tarda), stone-curlew, and multiple lark species. The little bustard (Otis tetrax) had declined 95% in France between 1970 and 2000; its presence at Cossure post-restoration is significant. Plant diversity remains lower than the natural cossoul ecosystem, indicating gradual long-term recovery.

Under France's Green Industry Act (Loi Industrie Verte, 2023), the model was formalised nationally through Sites Naturels de Compensation, de Restauration et de Renaturation (SNCRR), operational from November 2024. In April 2025, the European Investment Bank and CDC Biodiversité signed a partnership to study voluntary biodiversity credit placement beyond legal compliance requirements.

Read the full analysis: https://www.cdc-biodiversite.fr/la-compensation-par-loffre-cossure-1er-site-naturel-de-compensation/