Développement des sports de nature et de montagne en France : diagnostic comparé des ressources territoriales

Today, nature and mountain sports are very popular in France. Yet, the spatial organisation of these activities shows strong geographical disparities. The territory does not appear as a simple and inert setting for these practices. It proves to be a factor of co-production of these activities. Thereby, the actors of each territory are activating different resources in their own way. This contribution is rooted in the analysis field of territorial economy following which it is up to each territory to find their specific levers of development. In this perspective, the article aims to compare the territorial resources that are activated at the departmental scale, in every French department. Four variables (then declined in secondary criteria) were kept: the local public intervention supporting nature sports, the department economical structure in this field, its township culture and its social link, its environmental and natural resources. The results show correlations and regularities that can explain the diverse development of these practices.