Act for nature with “the awakening of the wild forces” of the Jane Goodall Institute France

On Earth, life is beautiful, rich, diverse. But it is now in danger. Threatened, for the first time in its history, by human activities. France is not spared. Fortunately, there is still time to act. By supporting, for example, associations that work behind the scenes to protect wildlife.

Regular updates of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red Lists (IUCN) remind us of this too often. A few months ago, the work of an international team of researchers gave an even darker verdict. Since 1500, between 7.5 and 13% of species animals and plants would have disappeared from the surface of our Earth.

France is not spared. Our country – taken as a whole, including mainland France and overseas – is even in the top 10 of the countries hosting the largest number of endangered species. Some 1,742, according to 2021 figures from the IUCN. Among which, no less than 800 species of wild animals. ” The sixth mass extinction is underway, there is no doubt about it”said Benoît Fontaine, researcher at the National Museum of Natural History, when we met him in early 2022. “But there is also no doubt that we have the cards in hand to stop him. »

“It’s knowing what you can do that gives people the courage to fight. » It is the conviction that shared with us Jane Goodalla few months ago.

She confirms it today. the Jane Goodall Institute France launches a new edition of the campaign “The Awakening of the Savage Forces”. Objective: to honor ten projects that work daily for the protection of nature, to give visibility to these heroes in the shadows who need support. Through an awareness weekend — October 1 and 2, 2022, GoodPlanet Foundation, 1 carrefour de Longchamp, Paris 16° — free access. But also through a crowdfunding campaign to support the ten projects selected by the Jane Goodall Institute France — and the partners of the operation which are Blue Bees, the GoodPlanet Foundation, the Lemarchand Foundation for the Balance between People and the Earth and Beauty Disrupted

These unloved species that also need protection

These projects have all been selected for the issues they address, the seriousness of the associations supporting them and the concrete impact they have on the ground.

• First there is the one developed by Noah. In France, this association is particularly involved in the protection of insects wild pollinators. Each year, it sows nearly 1,000 hectares of flower meadows and trains thousands of managers of public gardens in practices that respect biodiversity. His idea this time: halt the decline of pollinator populations nocturnal. Thanks to a participatory monitoring program… moths! A program that should both allow you to learn a little more about these insects and the pressures that our activities exert on them and arouse some compassion for these butterflies at first glance not as endearing as their daytime cousins.

• For nearly twenty years, the Ferus association has been dedicated to the protection of other animals that are not always welcome. The large predators that are the bear, the wolf and the lynx. In particular, it is developing a support program for farmers living in wolf zones. A program which, for example, mobilizes volunteers to monitor the herds in the mountain pastures. His project: multiply awareness tools and extend current programs, both in time and in space.

• The Aves France association, for its part, has been working particularly since 2019 to defend the fox and the badger. With the ambition today to change the law concerning them. To do this, it intends to partner with lawyersbut also develop awareness-raising actions with parliamentarians.

Return wild animals to nature… and vice versa

• The project led by Gorna is to create enclosures intended for the reception, the care – of injured animals, for example – and the reintegration of the lynx in the Parc des Vosges du Nord. Because, for almost 40 years now, the association has been running a care center for wild animals for their return to the natural environment. Thus, the developed enclosures could also be used for other species close in size to the lynx, such as the badger.

• In the same spirit, the Poitevine Wildlife Care Center hopes to be able to expand with a hedgehog and a box or two for adults. mammals. To continue its work of reintroducing wild animals that have been removed from it into the wild. Most often, by human activities.

• The Takoda association wants to get started. Do not be mistaken. She is already working on environmental awareness. But what she hopes for today is to be able to move on to another stage. That of direct action. By also creating a care center for wildlife, the first in the Nord department. A somewhat special center since the idea is to first launch a co-design project and then a participatory worksite. So that everyone can get their hands dirty.

• With its original project, Wild Forests seeks, for its part, to restore the forest to wildlife. Because the association is convinced of the value of the free forest — limitation ofgreenhouse effect, regulation of the water cycle, reduction of erosion, etc. –, she hopes to acquire more and more forest areas in order to let them evolve freely.

Know to love and protect

• As it is said that one protects better what one loves and that one loves more what one knows, certain associations rely above all on raising awareness. This has been the case with the Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels d’Auvergne for over thirty years now. Its most recent fight: to develop a program of school interventions, with managers of public green spaces and more broadly, with all members of the public, in favor of wild pollinators.

• Biodiv’Educ specifically targets children and young people. The association thus offers awareness-raising workshops on environmental protection in schools and leisure centres. It aims to expand its catalog of activities with three new modules: a workshop to discover how animals perceive the world, a escape room on wetlands and robots intended to make understand the concept of ecological barrier.

Do not forget the wild flora

• For ten years now, the project “Savages of my street” raises awareness of plants that grow and thrive in urban environments. But Tela Botanica does not intend to stop there. The network hopes to create even more programs of participatory science dedicated to wild flora. By recalling that the botanical is a basic science that has many apps in L’agricultureagri-food, pharmacology or even biotechnologies.

Animals, big or small. Plants, fragile or more solid. There is therefore something for all tastes in the selection operated by the Jane Goodall Institute France. So if you too want to take part in the action, do not hesitate to support these campaign programs “The Awakening of the Savage Forces”. It’s this way.