Have you seen the constantly shifting landscape in the Camargue delta?
Located in southern France at the mouth of the River Rhône, a river delta covering 193 thousand hectares makes up the Camargue Biosphere Reserve. Shifting landscapes, lagoons, overlapping areas of brackish and fresh water, marshes, salt steppes (halophilous steppes), rangelands and fallow lands replace each other in a constant interplay as you travel through Camargue. Natural ecosystems overlap with agricultural, all with varying levels of health and resilience. The EU-funded programme Ecopotential measures shifts in landscape water levels. It works with “Tour du Valat”, a private research center that aims at protecting Mediterranean wetlands.
Representing only 0,3% of France’s area, Camargue is home to more than 400 of the around 550 bird species native to France. It hosts the only flamingo breeding colony in France and 489 of the local species are listed by the EU as “of conservation interest”. The area also provides other valuable services to society; such as flood management, hunting, tourism, pastoralism and farming.
Local research focuses on the socio-economic activities in the delta as well as monitoring the ecosystems. This includes the sustainability of such activities and the health of the delta’s biodiversity. Several dikes nearly cut the delta completely off from natural water supplies. Every year authorities pump 400 million cubic meters of water into Camargue to permit rice farming.
The delicate balance between the many fragile ecosystems is now under threat. For example, too much inflow of freshwater can turn the salt steppes, steppes that depend on a high concentration of salts, into reed marches. Furthermore, climate change, rising sea levels and new agricultural policies can all affect the different ecosystems. The services the area provides rely on healthy and robust ecosystems. Innovative use of satellite data and computer modelling improves the management of this complex landscape and supports sustainable human activity.
Local researchers from Tour du Valat can measure vegetation richness and structure, as well as model the passage of salt-, brackish and freshwater. They can also monitor the populations of local and migratory birds, and the development of agricultural landscapes. Ecopotential, a programme funded through EU’s H2020, provides remote sensing, such as satellite imaging. This makes it easier to observe long-term changes to the coastline and ecosystems.
Curious? Read more about Ecopotential here: http://ecopotential-project.eu/site-studies/protected-areas.html.
Or find out about Tour du Valat here: https://tourduvalat.org/
