With 58 existing parks in 2023, and a dozen of ongoing creation projects, the pace at which French regional nature parks ("parcs naturels régionaux", PNR) are created has remained steady ever since this measure was launched, in 1967. The PNR have proved to be the most relevant examples of a light, but integrated nature protection in France. They have successfully developed until today, fostered by a strong image-making for rural regions under a contractual, voluntary-based management process at inter-communal level, promoting rural development and natural landscapes at the same time. However, the enduring success of this public policy does hide periods of stagnation, or even recent failures in the creation of new parks. Using the case study of the Dombes countryside, next to Lyon, France, where a PNR project was stopped in 2016, but also several other examples of stagnating projects, this article aims at shedding light on the factors slowing down -or even stopping -the creation of new parks. Using field interviews and a comprehensive analysis of regional daily newspapers, we will see if this failure is due to specific local environmental patterns, or to situational socio-political configurations, such as a lack of favorable policy windows or an increased pressure of local commercial farming against nature protection measures. However, it could also be the evidence of a recent slow-down of the model, in spite of the rise of social concerns about the current environmental crisis, due to rising complexities regarding administration and a global demand to reduce public expenditure.