Here is the first letter of the friends! You will find the latest news from the Association as well as information about upcoming events. The main news about the Tour du Valat is also presented. Feel free to send us your first impressions, you advice and suggestions which will be taken into account for the future letters (amis@tourduvalat.org). | | Dirk L. Schuiling won first prize in our 2016 photo competition "Peolpe and Wetlands" with this photo entitled "When Wetland is your home..." When you have been living in a wetland area all you life, you have become part of it, it is your natural environment. You will not think that the daily gathering of fuel wood for cooking from it will ever harm it. Maybe it won't, maybe it will... Depends. | | | | | Photo competition The photo contest launched in 2016 on the theme "People and Wetlands" was a great success with 42 participants. Three winners were selected. Dirk L. Schuling is the lucky winner (picture above). Hichem Azafzaf won the second prize (picture below on the left) as well as the puiblic prize (votes on Facebook) and Habib Dlensi was awarded the third place (picture below right). Hichem and Habib are two Tunisians that have been friends of the Tour du Valat for many years. You can find all of the results here! | | Exhibition 18 photos were selected for an exhibition that takes us on a journey to discover wetlands from nine different countries. It aims to promote wetlands that are both beneficial to biodiversity and people. This exhibition was inaugurated on February 5th at the Tour du Valat Open House Day (on World Wetlands Day). The exhibition can be borrowed free of charge. | | | | | Video A video-clip of the Association was presented at the begining ot the year. It has since been widely disseminated in order to allow as many as people as possible to become acquainted with the existence of our Association and to join us! Do not hesitate to share it! https://vimeo.com/200848848. | | | | | Friends Seminar Since the beginning of the year, two Friends seminars have been held in the evening and in Arles to allow a greater number of people to participate. Elie Gaget and Philippe Lambret shared their experiences in the Kerguelen Islands with over 50 people on January 26, as well as Jacques Blondel who explained how we moved from nature protection to "new conservation" on February 21. | | News from the Tour du Valat - Depiste the dismal weather, the Open House Day on February 5, 2017 was a great success. This year we celebrated the World Wetlands Day with new activities and events.
- The Ligue Pour la Protection des Oiseaux (PLO) unveiled a commemorative plaque in memory of Jean-Paul Taris at the ornithological observatory of the station of the lagoon in Rochefort in recognition of the 15 years during which Jean-Paul dedicated ot the association.
| | | | | Nature outing On Saturday April 1st, we proposed a guided tour with Patrick Grillas, Program Director of Tour du Valat: "The Armes of the Rhône on time : from the river to the temporary pound" | | | | | Open House Day for the Verdier Marshes On Sunday May 4, the Assocation of Marais du Verdier (Le Sambuc, Arles) invites the members of the Friends of Tour du Valat Association to its Open House Day. The program will begin at 10am with carriage rides and horseback riding for children followed by an aperitif that will feature local products harvested from the marsh. For more information: http://www.lesmaraisduverdier.fr/ | | | | | General meeting and Friends Day Attention, new date!!! We will have our next General Assembly for the Friend of Tour du Valat on Saturday, June 24. The assembly will be followed by a friendly meal. Reserve the date now, the program will be sent soon... | | | | | Tour du Valat Agenda The Tour du Valat will participate in the 9th festival of the Camargue and the Delta of the Rhône (June 2-6) : the festival will include a variety of nature outings, "Art, nature et utopie" shows and conferences... For more details: https://festival-camargue.fr/ | | | | | In short, the Program... - The winter bird counts estimated more than 14 000 common cranes wintering in the Camargue.
- More than 90 events were coordinated around the Mediterranean coast by the Pôle-relais Lagunes.
- Training of trainers for the project "Sentinels for Maghreb wetlands" in order to ensure the national capacity to further transfer knowledge beyond the project period.
| | | | | The team- Julien Bourjaillat was recruited as a technician for the estate. He is responsible for the cattle and horses at the Tour du Valat. Barbara Comabella also joined the TDV cleaning team;
- Emilie Luna-Laurent was recruited as a hydrology technician;
- Sanae Zinoui was hired under a contract/future in the accounting department;
- Nigel Taylor began a post-doc for the Conservation Evidence project in collaboration with the University of Cambridge;
- Charlotte Ravot has joined the team for a year during her civic service. Her main mission will be to support Antoine Gazaix, PhD student on the Lythrum project;
- Fanourios-Nikolaos Sakellarakis was recruited as a consultant in Greece to work on the LIFE Prespa project;
- Timothée Schwartz began his PhD under a CIFRE scholarship (ANRT and A Rocha). He will work on the effectiveness of the artificial reproduction services.
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