The local police of access to protected areas. Ecological public order and the politics of « small steps » As the environment is not a component of general public order, the mayor cannot take general police measures motivated by the protection of natural areas. As for the special traffic police in natural areas (Local Authorities General Code, art. L. 2213-4), it only allows the mayor to prohibit the circulation of land vehicles. It is in this context that article 231 of the "climate and resilience" law of August 22, 2021 created a special administrative police for access to protected natural areas, codified in article L. 360-1 of the Environmental Code. This new policy, which aims to prevent tourist overuse ("hyper-frequentation"), is in principle entrusted to the mayor. The aim of the orders issued on the basis of the article L. 360-1 of the Environmental Code is the protection of either the protected area itself or the animal or plant species for which it is a habitat. Moreover, article L. 360-1 of the Environmental Code does not only aim at prohibiting traffic in natural areas but also at regulating access itself, as soon as it is likely to compromise one of the elements protected by the text. Although little publicized, the creation of this police force constitutes one of the real advances of a law criticized for its lack of ambition, by providing the beginnings of a general regime of access to nature in France. However, from a more theoretical point of view, this special administrative police is a half-hearted step forward in the affirmation of an ecological public order, whose fragmentation it further amplifies.