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Were traditional agrarian systems more respectful of their natural environment than modern agriculture is nowadays? This is a pressing question, all the more so because the moors and bocages of western France, landscapes shaped and used for many of the past centuries by farmers, are in the process of being erased. From our contemporary vantage point, the plundering farmers performed on the natural environment before the second half of the 19th century or even the 20th century may seem limited. The technology was light, and the population much smaller. However, this same population was indeed aware of a risk of exhaustion of the available resources. The fear of not ensuring the necessary level of subsistence meant that every possible use had to be made of both cultivated lands and uncultivated ones (moors, thickets, pastures, woods...). past rural societies conceived of sustainable development out of necessity, because resources had to be conserved in order to ensure survival. The circular relationship was broken only with the agricultural revolution of the 20th century (chemicals, heavy machinery, reparcelling). The tools available to alter durably or even irreversibly the natural environment took on an entirely new dimension.