N°6 - 2nd quarter of 2018 | | Already half the year is gone, it is time to take stock of past events and note those to come to prepare the return from the summer holidays. | | - Photo of the Friends : the board members ;
- Friends' info : the presentation of the 2017 prize-winners 'photos , the last friends' seminars , a scholarship for a young Turkish scientist , the "blue" photo exhibition at the Camargue festival, a nature outing at the Verdier marshes, the 2018 General Assembly;
- Friends' agenda : Friends’ seminar, 2018 photo competition : « Duo », Associations’ Day, « Blue » exhibition at domaine de la Palissade ;
- Interviewing a Friend : Marion Vittecoq ;
- From Tour du Valat : News, the Program in short, papers and publications, the team.
| | The Board members On the occasion of the General Meeting of June 24th, 2018, the Board met. The only persons missing from the photo are François Mesleard, Mike Moser and Stuart Gregory. | | The presentation of the 2017 prize-winners 'photos On April 6th and 7th 2018, six participants in the 2017 photo competition conducted a photo workshop, supervised by David Tatin, jury member of the competition: four of the six winners and two photographers from the exhibition replaced two winners who unfortunately could not be present. For two days, they had the chance to browse the private estate of the Tour du Valat and photograph the Camargue following David’s precious advice. On the evening of Sunday, April 7th, during a closing aperitif of the workshop at the Maison Close, the participants presented us with a selection of photos taken during the course. The Maison Close was specially open by Herve Hote, also member of the jury, for the Friends of Tour du Valat that evening Jean-Emmanuel Roché, third photographer of the jury, was also present for the restitution of the workshop. | | | | | The last friends' seminars As part of the Friends’ Seminars, Tuesday March 27th 2018, Christian Chene's film "La Crau - History of a Provençal Desert", was screened at the House of Associative Life. René Durocher, through the Caribaea Initiative Association, shared his beautiful photographic adventure in the National Nature Park of Macaya Haiti, during his Friends’ Seminar of Monday, April 9th at Tour du Valat: "The WildlLife at Macaya, a photographic adventure in the Macaya National Nature Park". Jean-Claude Mouret has kindly agreed to intervene at the Friends’ seminar on Thursday May 24th at the House of the Associative Life (Arles). He presented his book "Rice and the Camargue: towards sustainable agroecosystems". | | | | | A scholarship for a young Turkish scientist The Friends of Tour du Valat Association was pleased to offer a scholarship to Ms. Dilara Arslan to enable her to participate in the 4th Conference on Conservation Sciences in the Mediterranean that took place at Tour du Valat from May 16th to 18th 2018. | | | | | The "blue" photo exhibition at the Camargue festival As part of the Camargue and Rhone Delta Festival, our photo exhibition "Blue" was visible all May in the St Louis Tower of Port Saint Louis du Rhone. With the theme "blue", the Friends of Tour du Valat Association seeks to highlight the beauty of the landscapes composed by these wetlands and the elements that animate them through the personal and artistic vision of the selected photographers. | | | | | A nature outing at the Verdier marshes Sylviane Johnson, member and long-time friend of Tour du Valat, accompanied the members of the Association on Saturday June 2nd through the Verdier marshes which she knows so well. The participants in this outing were delighted with the morning spent alongside Sylviane, both for her knowledge and kindness. | | | | | The 2018 General Assembly Friends of Tour du Valat Association members were welcomed from noon to share a convivial meal under the plane trees before attending the General Assembly. Over 50 participants were present on the day. The moral, activity and financial reports were approved as well as the amendments to the Internal Regulations. The 6 outgoing Board members were re-elected: Stuart Gregory, Chantal Heurteaux, Thymio Papayannis, Hubert du Plessix, Marion Vittecoq and Nathalie Barré. | | | | | Friends’ seminar Tuesday, September 11th 2018 at 6.30PM, in the large amphitheater of the Espace Van Gogh (Arles), Jean Jalbert, general manager of Tour du Valat and administrator of the Friends of Tour du Valat, will present a seminar on climate change in the Camargue. You will soon find more information about this seminar in the events section of our website. | | | | | 2018 photo competition : « Duo » The theme of the 2018 Photo Contest is "Duo". The rules of the contest will be released very soon. | | | | | Associations’ Day Join us on Associations’ Day organised by the city of Arles, Boulevard des Lices on Sunday, September 16th. The Association will have a stand and need good will to animate it! | | | | | « Blue » exhibition at domaine de la Palissade The photo exhibition "blue" is on display at the domaine de la Palissade since early June and will stay there all summer! | | | | | Marion Vittecoq is a researcher at Tour du Valat, studying pathogens’ dynamics at the interface between wildlife, livestock and human populations. She has been a member of the Association's Board since its inception and is the Assistant Secretary. | | | | | When did you first visit Tour du Valat and what was the occasion? I came in the summer of 2009 to do an interview for a PhD. My friend Anne-Sophie Deville was driving me (without knowing she would join me the following year) and we were running very late. Despite my lack of punctuality I was accepted to work on avian flu. I spent three very exciting years and when the opportunity arose in 2014 to become part of the team for the longer term, I did not miss it. What was your first impression? I thought, "Great, we can do research on biodiversity while being surrounded by it and by passionate people! Where do I sign?” I immediately loved this setting. I was so motivated that, not having the driving licence, I proposed to my PhD director to do all my field work by bike! He was not convinced so I took the driving test as soon as possible and in the meantime I cycled from Arles during the first weeks. What is your best memory at Tour du Valat? There are many and I do not like ranking so I will mention one of the last ones. I was participating in an ibis ringing. We entered the marsh of Bomborinette. It was early morning, grazing light conditions and cobwebs glittered with dew in the reeds. Ibises, cormorants, egrets were passing above us... in the distance the bulls were quietly crossing, water up to their chest. I said to myself, as often, that I was lucky to be there. What was your best encounter at the Tour du Valat? Once again I do not like ranking. I would say that what I find rewarding is the mixture between, on the one hand, a team of passionate people, who have been here for a long time and have a lot to pass on, and on the other hand, the regular passage of many researchers, students, managers from the four corners of the world. What emblematic species of Camargue do you prefer? Are you done asking me to make choices! Alright, I will name a parasite, the great liver fluke, which spends its entire life in the bile ducts of cattle, coypus and sometimes humans. It is not specific to the Camargue, but it particularly likes it here because it loves wetlands. It can cause significant economic losses, especially in dairy herds, but in the Camargue it seems that although the great liver fluke is very abundant, there is no or very little impact on Camargue bulls. It is even possible that this parasite blocks the way for other parasites, but we must continue investigating to find out more. Why did you join the Friends of Tour du Valat Association? I joined the Association since its inception because I like sharing my passion for knowledge and being an advocate for biodiversity (which includes parasites, viruses, bacteria and other small unloved critters, yes, yes). The Association allows me to interact around these themes with a large number of people from various horizons. Do you have any advice or messages to pass on to future generations who will come spend some time at Tour du Valat? To future generations, is it that I already belong to the past? I have to accept it. When you're here, unless you're cloistered away in your office, you're struck by the beauty and diversity of the Camargue environment and that's as important if not better than anything you might have read about the importance of wetlands conservation before arriving here. We are also immersed, not only in our waders and their dubious smell in the hot hours, but also in a team very involved in this conservation. Even if you only come for a short stay, you are left struck with the beauty of the natural environment and the energy transmitted by all the people you meet. So I have only one recommendation to make: Come! | | 2017 activity report Tour du Valat’s new 2017 activity report of has just been published. You can find it here. Happy reading ! | | | | | Envies-Rhônements 2018 at Tour du Valat In a rural atmosphere, 200 visitors enjoyed an afternoon and a convivial evening, mixing artistic performances and unusual discoveries of the estate. | | | | | In short, the Program... - Organisation and hosting of the annual symposium REVER of the French network on restoration ecology, at Tour du Valat.
- The 50th anniversary of the Camargue Horse breed was celebrated at the Petit Saint Jean on April 28-29 with over 800 visitors.
- The new wine (1500 bottles of rosé and 4500 bottles of red) from the Petit Saint Jean has been delivered and is now available for sale!
- The Tour du Valat Conference for young scientists "Conservation science in the Mediterranean region" was held with 35 participants from 7 countries.
- 700 Slender-billed gull and 178 Spoonbill chicks were ringed in collaboration with our local partners. Two Spoonbills were fitted with GPS loggers.
| | | | | The team - Recruitment of Arnaud Charbonner as a cook for Tour du Valat’s Canteen, in replacement of Corinne Cuallado, who left after 23 years of service.
- Hugo Ferreira, a young Portuguese currently at Tour du Valat as part of a European Volunteering Program, has won a prize as part of the Erasmus+ Video Contest : http://volunteer-awards.eyca.org/vote.
- A new civil service volunteer, Florent Sabatier, has been hired to help with the different restoration research projects led by M. Hess and A. Gazaix in the Ecosystem department.
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