The whale prison, it’s over!

The whale prison, it’s over!
25.06.2019
Russia
The whale prison, it’s over!
Exploitation for shows

The whale prison, it’s over! Or at least, it is coming to an end because the repatriation of orcas and belugas confined for a year in the Srednyaya bay has just started. There will also be no further animals caught in Russian waters, according to a court ruling. One Voice is delighted with this good news but remains vigilant as to the continuation of these operations.

Crédits photo © Yuri Smityuk/TASS

Two orcas and six belugas have already set off for the Okhotsk Sea in clunky old trucks, from which you can hear their anguished calls under the tarpaulin that hides them. The trip is at high risk, for them as for those who will follow them in small groups until all the pens are empty. In addition, their rehabilitation will be reduced to ten days before they are released off the coast of Shantar Island in the Okhotsk Sea, some 1,770 kilometres from the place of their abduction. Some are very affected by their stay with humans. Last April, we participated in sending a group of experts composed of Jean-Michel Cousteau and members of the Whale Sanctuary Project, including a distinguished collaborator of One Voice, the biologist Ingrid Visser. They had been invited to assess the state of health of these captives on the spot and to propose a rehabilitation plan. According to their report, most of the animals presented severe skin lesions (the skin of the orcas was burned by ice, they have been partially skinned alive), but all seemed well fed and able to be released.

In a televised debate, Vladimir Putin commented on this transfer.

« You should know that a single orca is already worth almost $ 10 million » he said, « And when there is so much money at stake, problems are always difficult to solve. Thank goodness things have started to move« . Let us salute here the obstinacy of the President of the Russian Federation to impose his will on the governors of these distant provinces, who are reluctant to let go of the goose that lays the golden eggs so easily. It was also for him to restore the image of Russia. It is indeed the only country to still carry out this kind of capture, at a time when marine sanctuaries are opening in Iceland and Greece and when Canada now prohibits any detention of cetaceans on its territory.

Heavy fines

Better yet, on May 31^st, the Sakhalin court declared illegal all orca and beluga catch quotas issued in 2018 by the Federal Fisheries Agency. As a result, two of the four companies involved in these catches were subsequently given very heavy fines. Trials against the other companies are still ongoing, but there will already be no catches of large cetaceans in Russia until further notice. Deputy Prime Minister Gordeyev also confirmed that the government would soon amend the law which still authorizes the abduction of these marine mammals for « educational and cultural purposes » today.

Hope

All is certainly not resolved for the prisoners of the Srednyaya bay because their release will take at least four months and all will probably not survive. But we can only applaud this unexpected liberation, which marks a turning point in the history of Russia and does it proud. One Voice also hopes that it will give food for thought to countries like China and France, which still exploit dolphins and orcas in their aquatic circuses. The road will be long, but we want to believe it: Cetaceans in slavery, it’s almost over!

La Piste aux Étoiles, is always in the crosshairs

La Piste aux Étoiles, is always in the crosshairs
24.06.2019
France
La Piste aux Étoiles, is always in the crosshairs
Exploitation for shows

La Piste aux Étoiles always shines as much with its shortcomings. This circus, which we forced to let Maya go, continues to mistreat other captives and present them to the public while flouting safety rules. We are filing a new complaint against this establishment and requesting that the animals be entrusted to us.

Since our alert last December, our investigators have maintained, in the shadows, their rigorous surveillance of La Piste aux Étoiles. Because within this sparkly glitzy named circus, many animals live day by day under awful conditions.

A show of desolation

After obtaining the transfer of Maya the elephant a year ago, we are fighting today to save its former companions who are also suffering in misfortune like Nelly and Brigit, the lion Sirius and 18 other big cats, as well as all the monkeys detained by this establishment. These unfortunates vegetate most of their time in tiny, rusty cages or rickety transportation facilities, devoid of any enrichment to distract them from this misery and they lack hiding places to get away from prying eyes. Their most basic needs are disregarded: it is impossible to claw anything for the tigers or even simply to drink at will for most prisoners! Not to mention the ubiquitous unhealthiness, with straw mattresses dripping in excrement. In this miserable atmosphere, these prisoners are reduced to taking two steps forward and two steps backwards throughout the day. And when despair takes over, they injure themselves, like Sirius, by bumping into the bars of its cage.

Recreation and punishment

While some prisoners never get out of their confinement, others like Nelly and Brigit have this rare « privilege » to leave their pen for a few minutes a day. Why? To relax, move and breathe? No, of course not. They are led under the tent to do the show. And what a spectacle: the pain of forcing their elderly bodies to sit upon stools, the pain of forcing their feet to play with large balls and the pain of riding on each other or trying to stand and balance on tubes with their front legs.

We will save them all!

This hell must end! Our hard and relentless investigations, the images, the expert reports that we have patiently collected so far demonstrate the obvious distress of these animals and the numerous violations of this establishment vis-à-vis the regulations in force. We not only have evidence of mistreatment, but also serious safety deficiencies which are endangering the general public! We are therefore once again filing a complaint against La Piste aux Étoiles. As for Maya, we urgently also request the seizure of Nelly, Brigit, and the other wild animals, the primates and zebras so that they can be entrusted to us while awaiting the hearing. For them all this period of injustice must end! We will not forget anyone!

Ivy, praise for an outsider

Ivy, praise for an outsider
23.06.2019
France
Ivy, praise for an outsider
Natural habitat

Common ivy (Hedera Helix) does nothing like the others. Green space managers often see this this plant that spreads in abundance with a negative eye, it nevertheless appears to be particularly gifted in many areas and excels in preserving the biodiversity. Trust it, have some faith in it… and it will take care of the rest!

Eccentric, a bit provocative, the ivy (Hedera), one of the Araliaceae family, does as it pleases. Immediately germinated, its young shoots eager to discover the world spread everywhere cheerfully in most climates and on all types of soil, even the least fertile. The plant is available in different species and varieties, wild or cultivated, across the globe. In our temperate regions, it is Hedera Helix (common ivy) that we meet most frequently, crawling in the darkness of the undergrowth, lining the thickets, sliding under the hedges, hoisting itself upon the walls, climbing tree trunks, rising towards the summits! With its multiple lignified stems, the liana moves quickly and redecorates the landscape in its own way. But its moving work, sometimes spreads over kilometres long and up to 30 meters high, is not to everyone’s taste… And this misunderstood artist has fewer fans than critiques.

A gentle rebel

Armed with pruning shears, or even chainsaws, gardeners perceive ivy as an unruly rascal, too robust to be honest, capable of ransacking architecture, or even killing trees! However, even if the gardener sees it as the original skin head in the garden, it’s not really all that bad! With its shaggy cut and overflowing vigour, it certainly embraces fiercely all in its path, but does not destroy. Equipped with small crampons allowing it to hang on, it’s just looking for supports, if possible vertical, to grow towards the light and in favour of hatching its yellow flowers… Far from it is the desire to parasitize, to suffocate or collapse its supports… On the contrary, and it is even very useful to its host: a natural thermal insulator, it also knows how to protect from humidity, drought, erosion or even animal markings… When it is removed, the surfaces it has covered are often better preserved than those where it was not. Of course, it sometimes happens that old, already cracked stones or an end-of-life tree wobbles under its weight, but this good companion is not responsible for their demise! It only slightly accelerates the normal course of things and the regeneration process.

Other strings to its creepers

Among other qualities, ivy is also recognized as a purifier of air polluted by certain poisons. It is also a valuable aid in biological control, as it harbours aphid predator bugs. And not only! Its evergreen and abundant foliage is visited by a multitude of animals. Bats, for example, like to hang there and many birds nest there. In addition, with a development cycle completely offset from most plants, this outsider begins flowering when autumn arrives and the rest of the vegetation is thinning around. It is therefore a delight for browsers whose basket is less loaded at this time of the year. As a good caretaker, it then offers its fleshy berries (not edible for humans) early on, throughout the winter, with frugivorous avifauna and certain mammals, such as garden door mice or foxes, which love them! Under its troublemaking appearance, ivy therefore has wise dimensions and proves to be an ardent protector of the biodiversity. Take with it its steps by joining in with the Arches of Nature, by letting it become attached to you, it will be able to conquer your heart!

A new brand labeled Fur Free Retailer (FFR): Evelyne Prélonge

A new brand labeled Fur Free Retailer (FFR): Evelyne Prélonge
19.06.2019
France
A new brand labeled Fur Free Retailer (FFR): Evelyne Prélonge
Fashion

Designer Evelyne Prélonge offers decorative items and accessories in faux fur. Their appearance and touch are comparable to real, minus the cruelty. Under the FFR label, her brand is committed to One Voice for ethical fashion.

After working for nearly 20 years with Haute Couture houses in textile research and innovation, designer Evelyne Prélonge launched in 2008 her own brand dedicated to the world of high-end faux fur. She thus wishes “to offer a quality alternative to real fur and to show that textile innovations can quite find luxury substitutes for animal fur. The weaving as well as the materials used are of high quality, as well as the quality of the work of the material and the finishes testify to a real know-how for a stunning result”. The collections are available for your home (plaids, cushions, rugs etc.), as well as accessories (bags, gloves, collars, etc.). All items are made in France with the greatest care.

For fashion and decor without cruelty

Today, the company goes further by committing to our cause under the label FFR (Fur Free Retailer). We are developing this international program in our country, initiated by the Fur Free Alliance, a European coalition of which One Voice is the French representative. It is aimed at all clothing and decoration professionals who decide to turn their backs on the deadly trade in animal fur. Many brands have already joined this avant-garde approach. They are the leaders of a responsible and ethical fashion in which beauty is celebrated without suffering. You can find them on our dedicated site which also presents the Animal free label (for clothing and accessories without animal material), as well as our One Voice label guaranteeing products not tested on animals.

The life of a “circus beast” is over for Elyo!

The life of a « circus beast » is over for Elyo!

The life of a “circus beast” is over for Elyo!
17.06.2019
Mayenne
The life of a “circus beast” is over for Elyo!
Exploitation for shows

His name the « circus beast » is Nal (or Nale). We had chosen to give him a free lion name, a solar name: Elyo. On this month of June, he has just been placed in a « zoo-refuge »: La Tanière. It’s still a great victory. The fact that the authorities pretend that nothing happened is not going to change anything: the darkness of the empty truck, for Elyo, is over!

The eyes of Elyo prostrate, one of the few times the truck has been opened. No matter how well he came out of this, the trainers will have to answer for their actions before the courts.

Outrageous living conditions and authorities turning a blind eye

For Elyo, we had filed a complaint for acts of cruelty in April 2018. A veterinarian was then mandated by the Public Prosecutor of Dunkirk. His report left no doubt about Elyo’s ill-being and suffering. Despite this irrefutable evidence, our complaint was dismissed! Faced with this incomprehensible decision, we then proposed to the circus to entrust the lion to us so that we would take him to live on the African savanna in exchange for which we would have helped them to set up a show without animals. The refusal was categorical.

In January 2019: new complaint

The authorities knew, they were aware of the mistreatment of which Elyo was the victim: they had in their hands the certificate from a veterinary expert for justice, the numerous reports of our investigators, the expertise of the world-renowned specialists whom we had called. For months, we kept alerting them.

The circus was still announcing performances until May 26th

In May 2019, Elyo was still plunged into the darkness of the truck, we decided to summon his two trainers to appear before the Laval Criminal Court (by paying, we made sure he had the hearing which he should have had the right to). The « direct order » was given by a bailiff to the trainers of the Buffalo Circus. It was at this very moment that the authorities suddenly had a desire to deal with Elyo. He had to be quickly re-homed, taken out of the circus. So, and while the consignment hearing is taking place, hearing during which we were asked to pay 3000 € so that justice could do its job… Elyo arrived at this zoo.

The end of trailer life. But what of Africa?

As for Maya, the authorities refused all our proposals, pretending not to see the appalling living conditions in which Elyo found himself. But, and as for Maya once again, a place has been found. Elyo will not have the pleasure of setting foot on the African savannah, where a park of more than one hectare in sanctuary awaited him. It is the choice of the authorities, but let them be aware, we will watch over Elyo!

The authorities may try to act as if nothing had happened, as if our fight had nothing to do with it, it will not stand up in court! What would have happened to Elyo if at the dismissal of our first complaint in 2018, we had given up? What would have happened if we had not followed him tirelessly, alerting the State services, if you had not mobilized, you, the militants, the sympathizers? Elyo would probably have ended up dying from constantly banging his head against the sides of the truck.

A great victory all the same

This placement remains a great victory, let’s not sulk or ignore our happiness of seeing him far from this miserable life: the incessant homelessness, alone, locked in a truck, usually in total darkness.

At the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, where we asked at meeting after meeting, for an immediate ministerial decree that would put an end to the plight of animals in circuses, we were told: « But what to do with captive animals? We have no solution. » The more the weeks passed, the more it looked like a false pretext. If there was no solution, how to explain that in less than a year Maya, Lechmee and Elyo-to name a few-had found a place outside the circuses?

Should we be filing a complaint and obtain direct orders for each detained individual? And so that they all find themselves, secretly, placed outside the marquees? If this is the solution, then we shall tackle it! Next meeting at the Marseille administrative court on June 27^th for Samba!

Our complaint for acts of cruelty on Maya is under investigation, and on October 18^th we will be at the Laval court to obtain the conviction of Elyo’s trainers for acts of cruelty. They will have to answer for their actions! The time for impunity is over!

You can support our fight with a donation!

Romania: quiet, we are killing!

Romania: quiet, we are killing!
12.06.2019
Romania
Romania: quiet, we are killing!
Domestic animals

The Ceausescu years turned pets out of their homes and on to the streets, many citizens turned into potential dictators of these streets. Stray dogs are tracked down like vermin, they are murdered in the eyes of children… while at the same time violating their human dignity! Let’s put an end to this hellish escalation of violence!

A large-scale massacre is taking place in Romania. Tens of thousands of stray dogs are persecuted and killed every year with the government’s consent. It encourages the entire country through its “law of slaughter”, to get rid of animals that have been left to their own devices. These unfortunates have become the scapegoats for structured violence for those in search of an outlet.

A bottomless pit

In Bucharest alone there are at least 2000 homeless dogs. Their numbers have been fluctuating ever since the 1980s, when the Ceausescu regime banned pets from entering, apartment blocks forcing families to feed them on the streets or to abandon them. Since then, these dogs have reproduced, multiplied, and are now the “the black beasts” for the majority of local residents. Pursued from everywhere, some cause damage, biting, thus fuelling the hatred against them. But rather than contain the problem by implementing a policy of sterilization, the authorities preferred to resort to the expeditious (and ineffective) solution of euthanasia. This has been officially practiced after 14 days on captured individuals who have not been reclaimed. But the truth is that most dogs are executed immediately after capture, or even at the very moment of their “pick-up”.

Horror at every street corner

It must be said that the dog pounds have quickly understood the profitability of these actions… Why do we have live animals, feed them on time, and then preform expensive lethal injections, if only, they could get the premiums up front before catching them? without any form or need of trial? Council employees began torturing and exterminating the “undesirables” automatically, not hesitating to commit the worst acts of cruelty in the streets. As an example, the citizens were not only accustomed to shows of butchery, they even reproduced these acts themselves. Today, it has become commonplace, even in a good way to assert their superiority and/or to pass their stoic nerve by cracking open a few skulls of dogs on their way. Even adopted, vaccinated and “regular” dogs often end up in this bloodbath.

What kind of example for children?

The Romanians are the collateral victims of these unsustainable public scenes: 86% of them have already been witnesses, according to the European Link Coalition. This international NGO, of which One Voice is a member, has undertaken to shed light on the link now established between animal abuse and violence against humans. With them, we urge you to challenge the European Commission and write to the Romanian Embassy in France on this serious problem within a country of the Union. By tolerating such practices that violate the Lisbon Treaty and its values, we are promoting executioners and/or their next victim!

Edit: Article modified on July 11th 2019

The public prosecutor of denies the suffering of angora rabbits!

The public prosecutor of denies the suffering of angora rabbits!
11.06.2019
France
The public prosecutor of denies the suffering of angora rabbits!
Fashion

If the State Council follows the argument of the public prosecutor at the hearing on June 7th regarding our request for angora rabbits, all of our arguments will be rejected. It is clear that the State refuses to advance on the question of the dignity of these animals, their rights or their respect. Because even the incorporation of a suggestion to introduce « virtuous practices » concerning the living conditions of rabbits has been rejected by the public prosecutor.

After a quarter of an hour of reading by the public reporter, we could hear all the means available to refuse any regulatory progress on the « depilation » of angora rabbits… If we understand well, the way to recover the hairs from Angora rabbits will remain unchanged, as will the living conditions; as for a ban, there is no counting on this!

This time, the public reporter is basing his remarks on an article by two researchers from the INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique) Coat, Fleece and Fur Laboratory, published in 1985, after tests on rabbits. So, nothing would have changed in the knowledge of animal sensitivity in 35 years?

Virtuous practices swept aside by the prosecution

Whether it is to make rabbits ingest Leucodendron which helps their hair to fallout, or to position hot water bottles under their mattresses to guarantee that they will not be too cold once the hair is exposed, it will be left at the judgment of the breeders to decide whether or not to put in place these « common sense measures » mentioned in the article by INRA researchers written in 1985, establishing that their plucking is not « in itself « abuse. As everyone now knows, letting the breeders be judges and parties always gives good results.

Our investigation in six farms considered as special cases!

Our investigation may have shown the positions imposed on rabbits during hair removal in six different farms and has made their cries and shrills in pain be heard, but nothing has helped. Given that the law imposes rules for the upkeep and maintenance of places of detention, and a system of control and sanction, the public reporter considers that this is enough. Our images would show, « at most, isolated cases ».

During our undercover investigation, we suspected that « special cases » would be one of the arguments put forward to counter our demonstration. This is precisely why we did not stop at just one, but went to six angora farms in France. And there is little more…

The suffering of individuals denied

Once again, we are told of the absence of risks for biodiversity or human health, without showing any compassion for the individuals concerned. Their suffering is skilfully ignored, even denied. We would even have had to demonstrate that shearing would be less painful than this « depilation ». Let us ask any human if they find it equal in its method to have their haircut with scissors or have it ripped out by the handful…

The public prosecutor goes so far as to argue, based on this article, that it is not certain that rabbits all have the same intolerance to the cold, According to him, this justifies the lack of need to generalize the fact of putting straw into the hutches or putting a hot water bottle under their litter once the skin is bare in winter!

On the language of animals…

How can an animal express its pain and suffering? How can it call for help if not by screaming? How can it show that it is in pain if not by struggling while its hair is being pulled out and sometimes bleeding? Wasn’t the phrase « twist in pain » created? What is the universal movement for any mammal in case of cold and fear, if not the generally trembling? Do rabbits have to learn to speak a human language to tell us? That they estimate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10 as we’re being asked at the hospital? From what wavelength of tremors does a rabbit feel cold according to the public rapporteur?

We will continue to fight for the angora rabbits, we put a lot of hope in this advert. In the meantime, please keep signing and sharing our petition for them!

In Turin, macaques blinded by continuous mutilations

In Turin, macaques blinded by continuous mutilations
10.06.2019
Turin
In Turin, macaques blinded by continuous mutilations
Animal testing

Our Italian partner, the LAV, has just denounced the abominable mutilations reserved for macaques in a research laboratory at the University of Turin, which is conducting a study entitled « LIGHTUP-Making the brain in the blind cortex regain sight ». We need all of you to ask the Minister of Health, Giulia Grillo, to immediately revoke the authorization of this research project and allow these macaques to be released into an appropriate rehabilitation facility.

The Department of Psychology at the University of Turin has approved and even financially supports a program called « Lightup-Turning the cortically blind brain to see« , carried out in collaboration with the University of Parma where animals are locked up as well as Oxford and Hartelust in the Netherlands where they were purchased.

After long months, even years of terrible training, after cutting the skull to expose the brain or inserting rods to block the head from moving during the recording and stimulation sessions, the researchers will tackle « real » research. This study will therefore consist of subjecting macaques, initially in good physical shape, to numerous excruciatingly painful surgical procedures, the removal of parts of the brain in the area of the visual cortex, and even making them blind.

One Voice joins the call of LAV, its European partner, to ask the Italian Minister of Health to immediately revoke the authorization of this project, and allow the macaques to be placed in a rehabilitation centre in the shortest time possible.

Like its partners, One Voice calls for an end to animal testing. This practice has shown again and again that its results are insufficient to justify all the suffering it imposes on sentient beings, moreover primates. The European Union has demanded a drop in the number of animals tested, yet it is almost impossible in Italy or France to have access to reliable consolidated figures. This is unacceptable.

We must all sign urgently a petition before it is too late for them (in Italian) so that the mutilation of these macaques stops immediately. Science, like all human activity, cannot absolve itself from all things ethical.

Photo: Essere Animali

Ban hunting at home? A civic act!

Ban hunting at home? A civic act!
06.06.2019
France
Ban hunting at home? A civic act!
Natural habitat

Your land, your conscience… In France, the uses and the law allow hunters to exercise their right to « leisure » on someone else’s property. The texts are complex, but you can act so that your property becomes a haven of peace for animals. How?

It’s a kind of anti-hunting extension of our Arches of Nature, which aims to reclaim our environment, for a richer and more varied biodiversity… One Voice wants to encourage every French landowner to make a sanctuary of their land, without having to endure hunters and their dogs who can freely pass through it to hunt down their victims.

A hunter hunting at your place…

Because the hunting lobby has nevertheless succeeded in an historic feat of having, in the name of the general interest accorded to their hunting activities, the right to relieve the owners of private land of the power to say no… Since 1964 and the Verdeille law, named after an ardent Senator from the Tarn and who is a hunter, France has enjoyed a special feature. This special feature is from the Communal Hunting Associations approved (or ACCA, which can be intercommunal, or AICA).

Aiming to establish important hunting areas, the Verdeille law obliges small landowners to bring to these associations certain hunting rights linked to their land so that third parties (hunters) can make use of it. The implementation of this law has been special: today it follows that some municipalities are under the ACCA (or AICA) regime, and others are not.

In the first case, hunters can hunt at your place without asking for your permission, but they are however obliged to respect a security perimeter of 150 m around the dwellings. In the second case (excluding ACCA), there is no security perimeter and the hunters will be able to shoot against your garden fence or, if there is no fence, cross it!

What scheme does your municipality depend on? The easiest way is to get information from your town hall.

Thank you, Europe!

You should know that this Verdeille law was modified following an action brought by owners before the European Court of Human Rights, who were successful. Since July 26^th 2000, a non-hunter can thus withdraw his lands from an approved Communal Hunting Association subject to making an express request.

If your municipality is outside the Association Communale de Chasse Agréée (ACCA or AICA), you can very simply prohibit hunting at home by affixing, at the edge of the property, signs specifying that you do not accept the practice of hunting on your land.

If your municipality is in the ACCA, as soon as your land is fenced off in a “continuous and constant manner, preventing any communication with all neighbouring land and completely preventing the passage of game and that of man« , they are automatically excluded from hunting territory (Article L. 422-10 and L. 424-3 of the Environment Code).

Otherwise, you can also formulate a territorial opposition to the practice of hunting on your land if they is a minimum of 20 hectares in one area (3 ha in the case of marshes, 1 ha for a pond… but at least 100 ha in mountain areas above the limit of forest vegetation). You will then have to write to the prefect of your department (registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt), mentioning the cadastral references of all the parcels concerned (Articles L. 422-10 3 °, L. 422-13 and L. 422- 18 of the Environment Code).

No to hunting, a real conviction!

Fortunately, small landowners can also ban hunting in the name of their personal convictions (Art. L. 422-10 5 °, L. 422-14, L. 422-15 and L. 422-18 of the Code of the environment). But this is a real act of faith because it requires an important formalism.

Here you must send the Prefect of your department a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt stating that you want your land to be prohibited from hunting due to your personal beliefs. Please note, this request must be made within a specific period (at least six months before the expiration of a period of five years from the date of creation of your ACCA. Your prefecture must inform you of this date upon request).

In addition to three copies of your request letter, in addition to the cadastral maps and plot numbers of the land concerned, it is recommended to attach copies of the letters that you wish to send to the local hunting society, the mayor and the services. ONCFS premises, to inform them of your decision. Let’s be civil…

Once the ACCA withdrawal is granted, you will be required to place « no hunting » signs along your property lines. Be careful, the law is tenacious: if you sell your property, the new owner will have to confirm within six months the withdrawal of the ACCA, otherwise the land will fall back into the rights to roam, in other words into the bosom of the hunters.

Nettles, the friend of butterflies

Nettles, the friend of butterflies
05.06.2019
France
Nettles, the friend of butterflies
Natural habitat

This plant covered with stinging hairs does not look like much and attacks those who underestimate her. Able to defend herself against brutes, she protects her virtues as much as her allies. You have to have the grace of a butterfly to know how to approach her, talk to her and take refuge in her.

She bites and she burns. However, one rarely declares her flames as a bouquet of flowers when she is in blossom, presenting herself mainly in the form of multi-coloured rows of clustering small pale flowers. A nettle (Urtica), whatever her species, she has no allies. Of the nettle family of Urticaceae, her hairy prickly leaves, are uninviting. We avoid her at the side of the roads, we curse her when we accidentally rub against her and the well-mowed lawn enthusiasts pull her out or kill her with pesticides. We don’t know her well enough.

Safe Haven

Because this very old herb has many properties. She has been used since time immemorial, both in food and medicine, in particular. A natural fertilizer, her liquid manure is also very beneficial to the rest of the vegetation. But the benefits of nettles are not limited to the exploitation of them by humans. Her mere presence on the banks of streams, at the edge of the fields, at the bottom of a vacant plot, represents a boon for the surrounding flora and fauna. While cleaning up polluted soils, she attracts a host of admirers, and in particular butterflies! Many have understood how this uninviting plant is an ideal refuge for sheltering from predators. And her mass turns out to be a small garden of Eden where the cunning lepidopterans come to fly with grace.

Nursery

In a group of colourful foragers, we can in particular admire the Vulcan, the Small Tortoiseshell, the Peacock Butterfly, the Comma, the Map or even the Beautiful Lady. Sometimes less flamboyant, the Owlet moths are not left out either: the Jersey Tiger, the Nettle moth, the Small Magpie, the Silver Y and the dark spectacle, are just a few of the many who regularly visit this « weed ». Many also put their offspring in her care. Depending on the species, each butterfly has its own technique. The Vulcan, for example, deposits its eggs one by one on the top of the leaves (the caterpillars later roll up the leaf to feed on from the inside out), while the Map prefers to lay its eggs underneath the leaves, in the form of cascading rosaries… which look like the inflorescences of the plant itself!

Winged poets in danger

Thus, nettles provide both food and shelter for a host of butterflies, whatever their stage of metamorphosis. When you know that these endangered insects are threatened with extinction, mainly due to the degradation of their natural environments, preserving their habitat is more essential than ever! Leaving a square area of nettles at the bottom of your garden is more than an easy gesture, it is an act of resistance against the decline of biodiversity! To fight alongside us and sanctify more and more green spaces, join the Arches of Nature!