Raphaël MATHEVET, CNRS, France
Arnaud BÉCHET, CNRS, France
The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) regularly nested in the Camargue until the 1960s. After many efforts of site surveillance, bird census and ringing, breeding place creation, water management, the species is nesting again and has recovered important population numbers: it is not under threat anymore. But an island created with a mechanical shovel, closely monitored by scientists and wardens, in a pre-concentration basin of an industrial sea salt harvesting unit, is not really the image one has of wilderness. The story of the flamingo's rescue reveals a vast network of stakeholders involved in the protection of nature, especially in the context of the largest ecological restoration project in Europe. In the shadow of this success, there are many questions about the state of the environment and our relationship with nature.
In this talk, we will propose an analysis of the history of this conservation effort, of past and present conflicts, but also of alliances within a territory, and we will discuss the contributions of animal geography and political ecology on the definition of the conditions of coexistence with the rest of the living world.
Mots clés : biodiversity conservation|protected areas|wetlands|human wildlife conflicts|nature
A104771RM