Two days to draw up an exhaustive inventory of the project, objective by objective, action by action, with an indoor presentation followed by a field trip the next day. This was an opportunity to discuss the management of the Crau Plain Grasshopper environment (reopening work and pastoral management), and its breeding “in situ” at the Calissane site, followed by its breeding “ex situ” at the Parc Animalier de la Barben, with a presentation of the infrastructures put in place.
© Marie Robert de St Victor
The delegation was able to take the scale of the work accomplished and the challenges that still lie ahead. Valuable information and feedback were shared, and a promising reflection on the post-LIFE period was initiated.
Just what we needed to give a boost to the start of the spring season, which will be driven by the ambition to release the first Crau Plain Grasshopper in the areas now identified for its reintroduction.
© Chloé Allievi
Many thanks to all the participants and speakers involved in this event, who helped to ensure its excellent quality, and a big well done to Camilla Crifo and Elodie Liot (CEN PACA), project manager and administrative assistant respectively, for the tremendous work they have accomplished since joining the team in November 2023.
We would also like to thank our partners, the Chambre d’agriculture des Bouches-du-Rhône, the Parc animalier de la Barben and the Parc animalier of the Muséum de Besançon.
We would also like to thank the funders of this project, without whom none of this would have been possible: the European Commission, Natura 2000, the French Ministry for Ecological Transition and Armed Forces, the Bouches-du-Rhône Department and the Southern Region.
© Chloé Allievi