• 3 days ago
Spending time in nature, avoiding plastic, planting seeds to provide food for insects... Here's how we can limit our impact on biodiversity.

Episode 7 of our series of stories on eco-citizen initiatives with French author Julien Vidal.

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Transcript
00:00Today, in the world, every 20 minutes there is an animal or plant species that disappears
00:05and facing this 6th mass extinction, we all have a role to play.
00:19The first lever that we citizens have to protect biodiversity is our food.
00:23Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a local organic grocery store.
00:27So we're going to show you a few simple gestures to change your habits, even in a supermarket.
00:40Who says struggle to preserve biodiversity says eradicate completely the pesticides of our diet.
00:45So an organic diet, but also a diet without plastic.
00:49And for that, we can privilege our own plastic bags and necessarily go to a local and seasonal diet.
00:58Here, it's the season of artichokes. Why deprive yourself?
01:08There is another place in our plate where we can have a significant action.
01:11It's at the level of meat and fish.
01:13You should know that two-thirds of the food we grow goes to cattle.
01:18My choice to reduce this pressure on biodiversity is to be vegetarian.
01:22If for you it is still impossible, what I advise you is the least but best.
01:26And for the labels, do not hesitate to go see your butcher and your fishmonger who really know their stuff.
01:33Who says biodiversity necessarily says palm oil, which is one of the first causes of deforestation in the world.
01:38And we're lucky in France, we have excellent alternatives that favor bees.
01:42This is the case of French and organic honey.
01:45And if you can't get enough, there are more and more alternatives that are organic and without palm oil.
01:54This shows the growing interest of the French for this type of product.
02:07So yes, we have to reduce our impact and that goes through the modification of our diet.
02:12But there is also the question of recreating the link.
02:14And because we always better protect what we know, let's observe this nature.
02:20Julie, hello.
02:21Hello.
02:22You are the coordinator in charge of the Observatory of Biodiversity at the NOE association.
02:27And I have a lot of questions for you.
02:28OK, let's go.
02:29Are you taking me?
02:30Yes.
02:31Come on.
02:35Your mission is to recreate this link between the living being and nature, I have the impression.
02:39Yes, absolutely.
02:40We really have this desire to reconnect man to nature through participatory research.
02:45Yes.
02:46So that people reappropriate nature, species, whether in the forest, in their garden, we can observe biodiversity.
02:53And so participatory research is used for that.
02:56In fact, we will observe species and we will send the information to the National Museum of Natural History.
03:01So the research that will be able to follow the evolution of the populations of these species.
03:07We are still here to observe.
03:09I downloaded the tools that you put available on the Internet.
03:13Great.
03:14So you see, look, I came ready.
03:16There is a whole reference of the butterflies that we can see.
03:20And so there is a counting sheet, right?
03:23Exactly.
03:24Exactly.
03:25So these are the tools that are available on the site to help you.
03:28So already to recognize the butterflies, because there are still 26 species in the observatory.
03:32Yes.
03:33And then we take our sheet and then we go to our garden or to a public garden and we will start making observations.
03:38This is typically a great activity, I imagine, to do with children on the weekend.
03:42We're going for a walk in a park or even as a family.
03:45We are in the garden, we take out the sheet.
03:47We don't have to dedicate a whole day to it.
03:49Exactly.
03:50It can be, we spend the time we want, in fact.
03:52We will observe when we want, when we want.
03:54With children, it is true that it is a very good activity.
03:56It works very well.
04:00Maybe.
04:01Come on, go ahead.
04:05It's frustrating.
04:06There are lots of plants, we see a lot of things and we can't find any butterflies.
04:10Well, it's time.
04:11After what I was saying, in the rainy season, we can try to find more snails.
04:15Well, snails, look.
04:16There is one there.
04:17And there.
04:18Great.
04:19You have the snail poster, right?
04:20Yes, the poster.
04:21So here we can recognize them thanks to their shells, for example.
04:24This one, look.
04:25I had a little apprehension, participatory science.
04:27We imagine that it is complicated, that you have to have a bit of an expert's eye.
04:31And everyone can do it.
04:32You just have to walk around in a natural environment and have the patience, the curiosity
04:38to simply observe one species, two species, three species.
04:42And it's super well explained with a whole bunch of tools, maps, etc.
04:47And so, we are still a little confronted with the miracle of life, which is completely unpredictable.
04:52We don't see all the time everything we have come to observe, in fact.
04:55Is it serious?
04:56No, no, it's not serious.
04:57It's even important, since it's called zero data.
04:59The fact that we don't see a butterfly is also information for research.
05:02Often, we will want to note that when we see one, but when we don't see one, it's also a data.
05:07What we did here was useless.
05:09No, no, no, never.
05:10But there is also an interest in being connected with nature.
05:13We were able to enjoy, observe the plants around us.
05:15It's always important.
05:16Well, I thank you for your time.
05:18And then we will continue to observe this nature.
05:20Thank you very much.
05:21See you next time.
05:22Bye.
05:23Bye.
05:27So, we saw how to limit the footprint we had on biodiversity through our feeding.
05:37We saw how to recreate the link to the living by going for a walk in nature.
05:41Final advice, we will see how to regenerate the ecosystems.
05:44Whether you're in the countryside or in town, you can plant mellifera seeds everywhere you can to feed the insects.
05:51Today, thanks to the Association Agir pour l'Environnement, I have access to a small
05:59bag of mellifer seeds.
06:01It's a campaign called Zone de Bz and there have been thousands of bags of seeds
06:06all over France that citizens will be able to use, like me today with my gardener.
06:10Finally, those who best summarize the situation in which we find ourselves are the students
06:21who are on strike for the climate and they say, we are the nature that defends itself
06:25because changing its world is changing the world and participating in the construction
06:29of a better world, it starts with me.