Old military maps of France, compared with modern aerial photographs, show a striking change in the landscape. Small blue spots that once marked ponds across the countryside are now largely gone. These ponds were once vital for farming, providing water for livestock and habitats for wildlife like frogs. Their disappearance has been largely attributed to changes in agricultural policy and land management that began after World War II and accelerated from the 1950s onwards. The transformation started with a 1941 law that encouraged the consolidation of small, fragmented land plots into larger, more uniform fields. This was meant to make farming more efficient by accommodating tractors and modern machinery. Between 1946 and 2006, 18 million hectares of land were consolidated, leading to the removal of nearly 750,000 kilometers of hedgerows—about 70% of the total lost since the 1950s. In regions like Brittany, which had a dense network of hedges and ponds, this process had a particularly heavy impact, disrupting traditional land patterns and ecological systems. Ponds are more than just sources of water—they are complex ecosystems that support a wide range of plant and animal life. They are connected through a network of ditches and wetlands, creating a broader ecological system that helps regulate water flow, provide shelter for beneficial insects, and naturally filter water. The consolidation efforts of the mid-20th century disrupted these networks, often without any plan to replace or compensate for the lost ecological functions. In 2005, the French government ended the administrative process of land consolidation, shifting focus to more sustainable land and forest management. The 2007 Grenelle environment conference introduced the idea of "environmental consolidation" to help repair the damage caused by earlier practices. More recently, in 2021, the government launched the "Plantons des haies" program, which aims to restore parts of the hedgerow network lost since the 1950s, with a budget of 45 million euros. However, rebuilding these natural features is a slow process, far more gradual than the rapid destruction that occurred in previous decades. This contrast highlights the long-term challenge faced by today’s communities and farmers in restoring the ecological balance of the French countryside.