The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!

The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!
27.07.2019
France
The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!
Natural habitat

One Voice calls for action: a public consultation is launched around a ministerial decree opening the door to a mass killing of great cormorants (150 000 birds over a three-year period). The reason? To protect fish farms and river fish from this protected natural predator. Completely mind-blowing!

All agree that the shots of « destruction » cannot regulate a population of breeding birds, especially in accordance with the precise levels of the department. But here we are: by a prefectural decision, these big cormorants, birds protected by the law and by a European directive, are declared huntable by departmental quotas because they extensively harm the pisciculture farms and even certain species of wild river fish, also protected and especially coveted by fishing companies.

The State and its local agents, the Prefects, are diligently responding to the wishes of an economic sector that does not take the time to find alternative methods: No less than half of the large cormorants wintering in France are affected by the planned destruction by shooting in 88 metropolitan departments. 50,000 birds per year…

Deadly and unjustified decree

A similar decree framework has already been taken on in 2016 for the last three years, in the same proportions and at the time could not be thwarted by the mobilization of citizens. This new public consultation, open until July 31^st (go quickly and give your opinion using the arguments already cited in this article!), It’s the opportunity to say no, and to say that the solution does not lie in mass shootings of « Destruction ». What’s even crueller, is that these protected birds are fired at with light cartridges which are regulated: shot and injured, they often suffer in agony for hours!

The National Council for the Protection of Nature this time unanimously gave an unfavourable opinion to the renewal of a measure that only pleased a few economic actors, and of course the fishermen and hunters. All these arguments did not make the ministry retreat:

• shooting is ineffective in controlling overwintering populations in each department;
• It has not been demonstrated that these shootings can reduce the predation levels of these piscivorous birds, especially in open waters where the protection of fish depends on several other factors (predation by other animals, including types of catfish, quality of the water, etc.); in addition, cormorants feed mainly on abundant prey such as cyprinids or even exotic species (catfish and perch);
• The large cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) targeted by the decree are very similar to another subspecies of cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo), whose populations In France are unstable. It will be difficult for hunters to judge between killing the « right » birds;
• The exact justification for requesting open water shooting has not been made, nor do the pond farmers produce any departmental economic statistics on the impact of this type of predation from the Great Cormorants who winter in France.

As in other cases, the only response here would be through destruction to protect an economic activity in a natural environment that a bird cannot understand. Of course, French fish farming is going through a difficult time in competition with other countries that are curiously not experiencing the same problem. They are struggling trying to make a profit and when it is declared impossible to equip whole hectares of ponds with systems to scare off or to protect (via netting), scapegoats are quickly found. All animals like this are declared harmful because of their survival and their dependence on the type of prey available. However, regulations require us to look for alternative solutions before drawing and aiming rifles against wildlife…

Pack it in and protect your farms!

Last February, a fish farmer from the department Deux-Sèvres sued the state for the damage suffered by its exploitation since the arrival of cormorants on the property. The man, who can not invest the estimated 500,000 euros to effectively protect his pond, has still obtained 800€ compensation per hectare per year over the period from 2010 to 2015, a total of 160,000€. « Being located in a natural area of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest, I can not even destroy the nests », he deplores, reserving the right to bring a new legal procedure for the period 2016-2020, if the State, with consequently our taxes, can not find a solution to its problem.

But slaughtering these birds is not a solution. Exercise more regular monitoring, protect the ponds… Of course, it is expensive, like working differently with better quality water, controlling the effluents of agriculture. But is this not the job of professionals, improving and tracing their production? No, instead of this, and despite of the help available in Europe, it is preferable to incriminate the so called « pests », all those animals to whom not one has the right to life.

The great cormorant is the tree that hides the forest: there are many concerns regarding other fish-eating animals (herons, bitterns, kingfishers, storks, otters, mink…). Should we kill them all in the name of a scared economic activity ? What are the answers to the reasons why cormorants colonize ponds and rivers in France by leaving their typical habitat (the large estuaries, the coasts of the sea or the beds of the great rivers of Europe)? Will mass fire change anything?

Finally, if we really wonder about the balance of natural populations in our ponds and rivers, the prey-predator relationship, why do we rather not ask the questions about the place of human fishing in so-called threatened environments?

The fishermen are obviously mobilized in favour of this current situation. The number of comments requiring the eradication of these birds that deprive them of their catch is impressive. We must spread the word in these final days to massively oppose this killing. Act now!

Anyway, if the mobilization fails to stop the ecological slaughter that is being prepared, we will attack the ministerial decree in court so we can restore the rights of these large birds, remember they are protected. Such exceptions to their protection are unjustifiable!

The bramble, the unloved one

The bramble, the unloved one
15.07.2019
France
The bramble, the unloved one
Natural habitat

At first glance, the bramble is repulsive. Carrying its thorns as a standard, this plant seems to go to war and it is declared. But don’t just judge it by its looks. Under its hostile appearance, the unconditional pursues only one goal: to restore its rights to nature and to give birth to life.

Intrepid and fiery, the common bramble (Rubus fruticosus), when it rises, it has a feverish ardour. Yet rejected, evicted, abused, it clings, and does not let go of anything. But what is the secret of this woody plant which, even torn up, cut down, burned, scalded, it always ends up reborn from the ashes and lives on, more valiant than ever, to attack the horizons it covets?

Fight for life

It’s a conqueror! And nothing can extinguish the flame that inhabits it… But let no one be mistaken: this member-as illustrious as despised-of the rosacea family may be equipped with long stinging stems, no desire at home to violate anyone or to sow discord! If its sharp thorns cling so passionately to the paths they take, it is only to make life triumphant! And they only play a role of shielding against those who would like to divert them from this mission.

Green activist

For yes, the bramble, under its raw appearance, is animated by a noble vocation: to give at all costs its rights to nature! And claim them vigorously when they have been flouted… Thus, it is one of the first to appear spontaneously on abandoned land, in the countryside as in the city. Green spaces, roadsides, piles of rubble, rubbish dumps, suit it as much as the wastelands, the hedges or the edges of a wood. As soon as its attraction to direct light is properly satisfied, this pioneer adapts easily to all kinds of habitats, opening the way for a host of species evolving in its wake.

Let the charm act!

Try to block it and it’ll get out its claws! As soon as it feels threatened, cut, persecuted, it enters into resistance and repels more, while its thorns multiply and thicken. They even load more toxins to become more aggressive! It is therefore better to let it work, as a fine lace maker does. Pursuing a logic as botanical as it is subtle, it masters the art of re-establishing bare soils or in transition between plains and forests. Equipped with a growth hormone and an asexual mode of reproduction (vegetative multiplication) extremely effective, it develops at high speed V (several centimetres per day)! Its branches extend in all directions and intermingle so well that they quickly form thorny groves, the famous wild mulberry bushes.

By my bramble…

Under their protective armour, a forest ecosystem tries to be recreated, making the happiness of young tree shoots, still too fragile to defend against large herbivores, as well as a multitude of animals. Rabbits and hares, in particular, install their burrows there and the birds there make their nests, well sheltered. Meanwhile, above the ramparts of branches, bees forage for flowers, deer feast on leaves, and foxes, polecats, badgers, martens or weasels feast on blackberries during the summer and until the beginning of the season, Autumn. This farandole of living causes nature to gradually resume strength and assurance. And when the bramble no longer feels indispensable to plead its cause, it ends up disappearing… At this moment, while contemplating the work that it has left, one becomes aware of the dimension of the artist and one is surprised to regret its presence. So, if by then the wild man with the heart of gold knocks at your door, know how to applaud his coming, full of sweet promises and appreciate it at its true value… To love it with dignity, join the Arches of nature!

The Reserve of the Ramières should not be reopened to the hunt!

The Reserve of the Ramières should not be reopened to the hunt!
12.07.2019
Drôme
The Reserve of the Ramières should not be reopened to the hunt!
Natural habitat

It’s been six years since the magnificent reserve of the Ramières had become a real sanctuary for animals. But here, the public authorities have yielded, for the umpteenth time, in front of the lobby for hunters. We write to the Ministry of Ecology asking for the urgent adoption of a new decree to protect this site. Please sign and share the petition launched by the Citizens and Nature Collective in Val de Drôme

This reserve which is on the course of the beautiful river Drôme, is the largest wetland in the department of the same name. It houses otters, beavers, and many birds. Especially in migration period (hence hunting…). It is a fantastic reservoir of biodiversity on one of the last rivers in the natural bed of France.

Since 2013 and for 3 years, hunting was no longer allowed, intolerable for hunters. Their federation appealed against this common sense decision. Following a procedural irregularity, they got their way and cancelled the order.

Unfortunately, the authorities did not see fit to take over a new owner, once again in front of the hunters.

One Voice joins the « Citizens and Nature Collective in Val de Drôme » which initiated a petition demanding that the reserve of the Ramières remains a protected area. We are writing to the Ministry of Ecological Transition asking for an urgent adoption of a new order.

This beautiful place must remain the haven of peace it has become for the animals living there and should not be disturbed by those who continue to want us to believe that they defend the Nature armed rifles.

Please sign and share the petition!