2024-02-03 23:00:05
Friday February 2 was World Wetlands Day. These reservoirs of biodiversity are in danger in the face of human activities and climate change. Rebroadcast of a report produced in spring 2023 in the Paris region where a nature protection association has created a network of ponds for amphibians, frogs and other newts.
(Replay from June 4, 2023)
It’s a pretty clearing, sunny that day, dotted with yellow and mauve spots – the flowers of brooms and bluebells. The birdsong is only disturbed by the sound of shovels. Here, in Dourdan, in the Paris region, on the edge of the forest, we are digging on land which belongs to the SNPN, the National Society for the Protection of Nature, the oldest French environmental association, created in the 19th century. Some volunteers, Ahmed, Camille, or Théo, under the leadership of Marguerite Nielen, at the origin of this project, came to lend a hand, or rather shovels, to create a pond.
Ponds are part of what we call wetlands, just like lakes, mangroves or peat bogs. Wetlands, which occupy 6% of the Earth’s surface, are home to 40% of plant and animal species, but are disappearing three times faster than forests, according to the United Nations, due to human activities and global warming. climatic. « On a global scale, we have wetlands that are really in distress, particularly in France where more than 50% of wetlands have disappeared, explains Fanny Mallard, ecologist at SNPN. The idea, by creating a pond, is to allow biodiversity, species such as amphibians, frogs or newts, to be able to move from one pond to another, find refuge, find food, reproduce and complete their entire biological cycle. »
Also listen Biomimicry: living things are inspiring
Water for frogs…and deer
A quarter of amphibians in France are threatened with extinction. With repeated droughts, amphibian populations are in danger because without water, it is impossible for them to reproduce. So here, we are going to create three ponds, in total, 1m20 deep, which will be filled with rainwater. “ It’s about letting the pond develop naturally, continues Fanny Mallard. Colonization by fauna and flora must be done naturally, so we are not going to plant anything. If we have, for example, an invasive exotic species, we will intervene to put the environment back on the right natural trajectory, so that the environment can express itself as best as possible, in a natural way. »
More shovels, and it will soon be over, extracting a total of nearly 20 cubic meters of earth. Everything is done by force of arms and no one spares their efforts under the spring sun. “ We want to avoid bringing large machines and disturbing the deer who were there resting this morning when we arrived”, says Natacha Lemoine, wetlands project manager at SNPN. The pond will not only benefit the frogs… It may be a drop in the ocean – but water is life.
THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK
« Are the ducks laughing ? »
Since the Greek philosopher Aristotle, and after him the Frenchman Rabelais, it has been believed that laughter is unique to humans, but in recent years, scientific studies have shown that other animals can laugh – at least 65 species. There are a few birds, including the parakeet, but not the black-headed gull…
Laughing animals are mainly mammals: great apes, chimpanzees, our close cousins, who love tickles. (Which suggests that laughter preceded language in humans.) There are also dolphins, or rats – discreet laughter is ultrasound. All these animals laugh when they play. It’s a way of defusing conflicts, as if they were saying: “Okay, I’ll bite you, but it’s just for fun! »
Also listen In 2023, some good news for biodiversity
#Birth #wetland #nature