A success for the Friends' seminar exposing climate change in the Camargue

On Tuesday, September 11, Jean Jalbert managing director of the Tour du Valat and administrator of the Friends exposed the consequences of climate change in the Camargue, as part of the Friends’ Seminar Series.

This conference was the opportunity to present climate change in the Camargue and to discuss existing tools and solutions that could be implemented. The seminar was a victim of its own success. Although it took place in the large theatre of the Van Gogh space Arles, there was not enough space for all the people who came hoping to watch the presentation.

The success of the conference once again demonstrates the public's awareness of climate issues. You can watch and re-watch the seminar on the Youtube channel of the Friends of the Tour du Valat.

Participation of the Friends of the Tour du Valat in “the Day of Associations” and “the Festival of Possibilities”

The Association of the Friends of the Tour du Valat was present during the Day of Associations on September 11th, as well as the Festival of Possibilities on September 29th.

These events were an opportunity for us to get to know you better and share with you the values of the Tour du Valat and the actions we take.

« Blue » exhibition at domaine de la Palissade

The photo exhibition "blue" has been in place since early June at domaine de la Palissade ! It is still possible to see it in the next few weeks. It is also an opportunity to visit an exceptional site, where you can observe the main animal and plant species of the Camargue delta.

Do you want to participate in a scientific survey ?

This is a novelty that is proposed to the members of the association of Friends:

From October, a scientific monitoring of the aquatic fauna is carried out on the sector of the Countess, close to the lighthouse of Gacholle.

This monitoring focuses on the ponds and marshes of the Camargue Salinas (EMSC), a vast territory located east of the Rhone delta, acquired by the Conservatoire du Littoral in the 2010s and managed by the Camargue National Reserve, the park Regional Natural Camargue and the Tour du Valat.

The Tour du Valat, in charge of fish monitoring, is fishing to assess the degree of connectivity between the sea and the Vaccarès lagoon complex via the EMSC. Two years of surveys have already taken place. The 2018-2019 campaign restart this month.

2018 photo competition: the public vote will take place in January 2019

The photos selected by the jury will be webcast from the 7^th January to the 2^nd February 2019 on the Association's Facebook page for public voting. The photo that will receive the most "likes" by the 2^nd February will win the "Classic" public category.

To do this, a photo album will be created on the Facebook page from 7th January 2019 where each photo will be presented with its caption throughout the voting period.

The "blue" exhibition at the MDVA, the last chance to see it

The photo exhibition "blue" will be on display for the final time at the House of Associations (MDVA) in Arles. The fifteen photographs selected will be visible from December 3rd to January 31st. Look out! The MDVA closes its doors for fifteen days between Christmas and New Year's Day.

A last Friends Seminar for this end of the year 2018

We wish to organize a last seminar before the end of the year.

On this occasion, the film "Marshes of Iraq, thirst for the future!” will be broadcast. The shooting took place in the spring of 2018 in the marshes of Mesopotamia, in the south of the country, on the occasion of a visit by a French delegation to which Jean Jalbert participated. This wetland was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2017.

Further information about this event will be communicated later.

Between 2012 and 2018, Dilara Arslan has studied amphibians and reptiles in Gediz Delta with the support of Tour du Valat Research Center, Doğa Derneği (Turkish NGO for the conservation of biodiversity) and Ege University. Besides her professional research activity, she is interested in bird watching as well as nature photography.

This year, The Friends of Tour du Valat Association gave her a scholarship to participate to the 4th Conference on Conservation Sciences in the Mediterranean.

Heinz Hafner’s lecture

Within the cycle of annual lectures on conservation biology, initiated by Tour du Valat in order to highlight the work of Heinz Hafner on waterbird conservation, we have the pleasure to invite you to the 2018 lecture, on 8th November at 18.30pm, Jean-Paul Taris conference room, at the Tour du Valat.

Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock, Director of Research at the University of Cambridge will present "The Ecology and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding".

Please reply before October 31st, 2018 following this link.

Back to the 2018 banding of flamingo chicks

The banding of young flamingos is based on a research program initiated in 1977. Thus every summer, the Tour du Valat bands nearly a thousand flamingo chicks born in the Camargue, just before their first flight. The forty years of experience and the collaboration with the international network of study and conservation of flamingos allow Tour du Valat to benefit from a unique database of nearly 700 000 observations of over 60,000 flamingos banded in the Mediterranean.

In 2018, the operation was conducted as a partnership between Tour du Valat and Groupe Salins, at the beginning of August. On this occasion, 673 birds were banded from a nursery of 1200 young flamingos.

To help advance the knowledge of this species, you can sponsor a flamingo HERE! Your sponsorship translates into direct involvement in the study and protection of flamingos by funding the purchase of the necessary optical equipment for observers in North Africa, West Africa and the Middle East.

The grape harvest at Petit Saint Jean Vineyard

The grape harvest at Petit Saint Jean took place three times between August and September. Thirty people have been mobilized among the volunteers of the association of the Friends of the Tour du Valat and the employees of the Tour du Valat.

Due to very wet weather this spring and residual moisture throughout the summer, harvests have been severely affected by late blight. The young vines planted in 2016, however, allowed a first harvest of 600 kg of grapes, which will be transformed into wine by the Domaine de l'Enclos de la Croix (34130 Lansargues).

The members of the Friends often lend a hand at Petit Saint Jean. Throughout the spring, for example, they had the opportunity to help maintain vineyard plots and plant hedges that promote biodiversity.

RTE dismantles a 24 km high-voltage power line in the Camargue

The Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) has dismantled a large portion of the 63,000 volt overhead power line between Arles and Salin-de-Giraud which was no longer necessary for the proper functioning of the network. Thus, in a few weeks, no pylons will be present in the Regional Nature Reserve.

Since the pylons are located in areas of high environmental importance, RTE, in close collaboration with the teams of the Nature Reserve, have put in place environmentally friendly operating procedures. A video of an accelerated disassembly of a pylon is available HERE.