Category Archives: Environment

Environment

Climate change reaches the Camargue

Story and photos by Anaïs-Ophelia Lino

When tourists think of the Camargue and its sprawling tall grasses, shining blue seawater and picturesque white horses, few would imagine it could disappear in a couple decades. But climate scientists say its grass is becoming too salty for pasture and its beaches are receding, and in 50 years its central city, Arles, will be under water.

“What shocks me most is that when I arrived in 1991, there were big, large beaches,” said researcher Nicole Yavercovski. “Today, they’ve disappeared.”

The Camargue is seeing radical changes due to climate change, according to researchers such as Yavercovski at the Tour du Valat, which has been studying the Camargue’s flora and fauna for nearly 70 years.

For decades, the region has attracted tourists for its flamingos, bulls, white horses and Mediterranean beaches. In the last 30 years, climate change has had severe impacts on all of them.

“In the very long term, it’s true that all of the Camargue will be under water,” said Jocelyn Champagnon, ornithologist for the Tour du Valat.  “I think nobody wants to address this question because it’s difficult to accept it.”

Wildlife has already been affected. Birds don’t need to travel as far south anymore to find warmer weather. Some birds from Switzerland that would have migrated to the Camargue stay near Paris. 

In the heart of the Camargue lies the Vaccarès Pond. It’s crucial for water birds but has lost the eelgrass that feeds most of them.

Meanwhile, the Camargue’s agriculture is being affected by low precipitation and a rapidly heating planet. According to Champagnon, sea levels will rise dramatically in the next 20 years. That means that there will be less beef and rice production.

In fact, that is already happening. Rising temperatures, low precipitation and human interference such as irrigation and increased water vapor is causing salt to rise quickly to the top of the surface and into the soil. 

“Agriculture is very sensitive to the salt,” Champagnon said. “You have a strong impact on the production of agriculture. So, this is already an impact of climate change.”

The shrinking beaches of the Camargue still attract many tourists.

While salt is one of the region’s most valuable exports, this is causing less production of rice and making some grass inedible for grazing animals, like the Camarguais bulls and horses. Rice farmers have to push past the salt and plant deeper, and bulls that graze in the Camargue are eating less, according to Yavercovski.

“I think there will be a big change in Arles’ socio-economic way of life,” Yavercovski said. 

The city of Arles in the south of France is the country’s biggest commune by land area, almost seven times as big as Paris’ zone. Its economy depends mostly on tourism and the production of salt, rice and beef in the surrounding countryside. “Everyone will be affected by climate change,” Yavercovski said. 

Yavercovski said farmers blame ecologists for wanting to regulate the use of the land.

Olive and hay farmer Benoit Cauvin responds that the tensions stem from the perception that ecologists have more pull with the government and greater access to land. 

Situated in the Crau, just on the border of the Camargue, Cauvin’s farm produces expensive Crau hay that can only grow in that region. 

Cauvin has experienced bizarre weather. A hotter winter helps his olives grow but hurts the hay.

“Climate change doesn’t worry me as much, but winter is less cold now,” Cauvin said. “Climate change means having to adapt.”

Slowly, ecologists are gathering interested parties, including farmers, duck hunters and managers of protected areas, to summarize new discoveries and collaborate on solutions. 

“We are working with the farmers in order to find solutions for them to not disturb [ecology] too much and  to understand [it],” said Champagnon. “But this is really just the beginning.”

Environment, Traditions

Cultivating bulls –and tourists – in the Camargue

Story and photos by Alexie Zollinger

At the Manade des Baumelles in the Camargue region of the South of France, the sound of cowbells clanking breaks up the numbing noise from the cicadas, and distant exclamations can be heard coming from two employees. The hollers are tracked to two men, the older one giving instructions to the younger, who is hard at work, with irritated mosquito bites covering his legs from long days in the marshy wetlands of the region. 

The men step between slim planks of wood about a foot wide, laid across a corral holding three large Camargue bulls, idolized in the region due to their importance in traditional bullfighting and bull games. The men take turns carrying large double braided ropes through the slats, leaning their bodies back in order to apply the weight needed to lead the hefty animals beneath. They explain they are trying to attach a label to the ears of the bulls as a way to recognize bulls of their herd before the main event; they will run the bulls through the region on horseback, a well known and popular tradition in the Camargue.

A 16-year-old intern at the Manade des Baumelles helps wrangle bulls beneath him in order to place tracking labels on them.

Since the 16th century, the Camargue has been at the roots of established traditions in the region. With 360 square miles of sprawling farm land, its primary economic function, up until about 50 years ago, was as pasture for white Camargue horses, and breeding grounds and caring for bulls for the purpose of bullfighting and bull games. Now, the jobs of the Camargue’s inhabitants have changed– in addition to herding bulls, they are also herding tourists. 

The Camargue is Western Europe’s largest river delta. In it lie 150 manades or ranches, dedicated to the raising and care of Camargue bulls and horses. The Camargue has often been called the “wild west of France,” with the manadiers its ranchers and the gardians its cowboys. 

When the Camargue traditions started, these modern-day heroes were no more than agricultural laborers, and many of the inhabitants of the Camargue lived in poverty. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that nobleman Marquis de Baroncelli, infatuated with the Camargue’s beautiful scenery and inspired by the gardians‘ dedication to the land, swore to elevate these men, and promote them as protectors of the land. This status remains intact today – but many aspects of these traditions have changed. 

Throughout history, and up until about 50 years ago, gardians lived in the Camargue in traditional cabanes de gardian, small whitewashed homes made from materials often found in the Camargue – walls made from mud and stone, roofs made from reeds and sewn together with iron-weaved thread, and topped with limestone at the point. The homes are very small, with only one room and an open air fireplace for warmth and a small living space. Now, these homes are almost all renovated or built new, and listed as vacation rentals and Airbnbs, for upwards of $200/night in peak tourism season. 

The biggest building on any manade would have housed the manadier and his family in the 19th century, and would be made of stone. Now, they primarily serve as reception areas or small hotels for tourists, who visit the Camargue to see the legendary black bulls and white horses, and learn about the origins of bull games and bull fighting. 

Due to this popularity, the job descriptions have changed for the gardians and manadiers. They often give informational tours of the manade to tourists, and manadiers also become hotel managers, balancing tourist bookings with the traditional practice of raising and caring for the vital heart of the manade–the actual livestock.

Ronarn Faure,the sole gardian of the manade, says caring for the animals of the Camargue and protecting the traditions are his passion.

The Manade des Baumelles is a renovated manade complete with a hotel and two restaurants on the property. The manade offers horseback riding, tractor tours and other Camargue excursions. 

The relationship is intertwined now, and everyone who is involved in the traditions of the Camargue has been forced to adapt to these changes over time. They have found that one cannot exist without the other. Emile Astruc, an employee in the manade, said, “Without tourism there is not enough money coming in to have the Camargue or the gardians or the hotel; everything does go to the Camargue.”

Astruc believes all of the employees in the manades of the Camargue, whether they have an agricultural job or a job in hospitality, work in the manade because they are passionate about the traditions. She herself drives over an hour and a half from her home near Marseille every day at 6 a.m. to be in this position. 

Faure is the sole employed gardian of the Manade des Baumelles, and has been working in the Camargue professionally for six years. As a child he devoted much of his time to volunteering, as the traditions of the land are his passion.

Similarly to Astruc, Faure says that his career is a labor of love. “We don’t think about [it as a] job. I know that I work and that makes it my job, but it’s a passion because it’s never the same, because you see a lot of different things and because it’s pleasant.”

He says he is grateful for the increase in tourism, because it is thanks to tourists that he can keep his traditions alive, even if they have changed. Through tourism, Faure can continue to educate the public on the history and traditions of the Camargue. In modern times, in the face of so much opposition to bull activities, Faure believes tourism helps spread the defense of the practices. 

“It’s scary,” Faure said. “It is true that today there are people who are fighting to have all that abolished. And it’s true that likewise, if that were to be the case, we wouldn’t work anymore and there wouldn’t be any point in raising bulls.It is important to preserve working with a wild animal in the wild and to make a difference, and to perpetuate the traditions around the horse and the bull.”

Faure said his hope is for “traditions [to] continue… and to manage to make people understand that this must continue, that [bull] breeding is made to make this show and that we should not fight against [it.]

Roles have adapted to incorporate tourists, but it is through tourist dollars that the traditions are intact, and it is through educating tourists that the traditions can continue to be celebrated, said Faure. 

“It’s not just a story of money,” said Faure. “No, tourism is also important to share our culture.” 

Environment, Postcards

Taking Flight

Story, video and photos by Louis Denson

Last Tuesday in Arles, I was walking back to my host home when I  heard a smack and a splat. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a small black sparrow spread-eagle on the ground looking around like it was waiting for me to tell it what just happened. 

After watching the bird make a few failed attempts at flight, I thought to myself, “I’ve  never touched a wild bird before.” It seemed its shock at hitting a wall had turned into helplessness as it just lay  there with its wings spread wide. Stroking the wings and body with the back of my middle  finger, I could see that this bird was in no immediate presence of death. “Maybe a broken foot?” I thought as it gave another effort of flight that jumped me back into the street. Natalia Puglia, a  language teacher and interpreter for Arles à la carte, stopped on her bike and told me that  sparrows can’t fly from the ground and need wind or velocity from height to take flight; so this  bird was not broken, it was just stuck in a rut. 

Before I could think of anything to do, a woman approached the three of us and had a  quick exchange of words with Natalia in French that went along the lines of “What happened?”  “This sparrow ran into the wall and can’t take flight on its own.” Without hesitation, this woman  scooped up the sparrow in her hands and gently examined its body. Not only was I surprised that  the sparrow made no attempt to prevent this from happening, but I was also slightly jealous that I  missed the opportunity to hold and help the bird. After only a few seconds and the lifting of her  hands, the sparrow took flight in the direction it had been going when it crashed and landed on a  windowsill. We exchanged glances, assumed the bird was safe and said, “Bonne nuit,” and went  our separate ways. 

How quickly, confidently, and casually all parties–other than myself–handled this  situation really shed light on the different air in the streets of Arles. I’ve seen and been a part of  conversations that consisted of strangers asking about each other’s children and wellbeing,  and leashless dogs looking over their shoulders to check in with their owners as they walk down busy  streets in the middle of the day. Arlesians show a calmer attitude than I see in people back home toward flies and mosquitos. Their sensitivity to nature almost brings to mind stories I’ve heard of Native Americans who could pick up a scent in the wind as they ran without sound or shoe  through woods and forests. There is an energy that is quick acting but also calm and collected, that is so natural and harmonious with its surroundings that I can’t think of another way to say it  other than that Arlesians are tapped into something special.

This is a personal reflection and does not necessarily express the opinion of The Arles Project or program sponsors ieiMedia or Arles à la carte.