Engaging recreational users in the management of biological invasions: a territorial co-production[Engager les pratiquants de loisirs dans la gestion des invasions biologiques : une co-production territoriale]

Involving recreational users in the management of environmental issues implies imagining new modes of cooperative actions, which have been built for professional managers. In this article, we propose to reflect on this question from the case of invasive aquatic plants on the shore lakes of Aquitaine in South Western France. We analyze these collective actions as territorial coproduction processes, relying on service economics analytical tools. We show that the collective actions that have succeeded in involving outdoor recreationists value first their operational and relational skills and rather little (if any) expertise. These actions are strongly conditioned by the type of support where the plants develop, at least as much as by the plants on which they are supposed to intervene. The involvement of recreational users will largely contribute to shaping the nature of the collective action and, as a result, add a territorial dimension. However, such a process favours the micro-localization of operations and responsibilities specialization. The latter is not adapted to the spatial dynamics of the plants. Technicians and traditional managers currently seem to be the only ones to overcome such difficulties. Neverthelss, these first initiatives are pioneering in character and a trustworthy source of inspiration for future experiments in participatory management.