A scheme to assist protect chook populations in snowboarding resorts has been an ideal success, says Sandrine Berthillot, of the Parc National de la Vanoise.
“This latest project was financed via the EU’s Birdski initiative, but we have been running similar projects for the last 20 years.”
The mountains account for round 30% of mainland France however are home to round 85% of the nation’s mammals, amphibians and birds.
It is subsequently vitally essential to protect the biodiversity of this habitat.
This is very the case as French mountain areas develop into widespread vacation resorts in summer season in addition to in winter.
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Ski resort infrastructure might be deadly to chook life.
Sometimes in flight, they don’t see cables (i.e. cellphone and electrical energy wires, zip wires, cables supporting ski lifts) or security netting, particularly in foggy climate. So wires and cables have been geared up with brightly-coloured discs.
A colored disc designed to guard birds, particularly in foggy climate Pic: Berthillot
Birds of prey (vultures and eagles) in addition to landfowl might be fatally disturbed by human exercise.
Areas of security
“We have therefore established ‘zones de tranquillité’ where species like black grouse can nest and hibernate undisturbed.”
This is more and more essential as skiers discover off-piste.
“In the beginning we marked out quite large zones but people did not respect them and we don’t have any official way of keeping people out of these zones. So now we mark out many more zones containing trees and undergrowth but they are small enough to ski round, and that works a lot better.”
A challenge involving chipping birds with GPS – enabling researchers to trace their actions – confirmed that the birds do truly use the zones de tranquillité.
“These areas are important because black grouse hollow out shallow nests in the undergrowth where they semi-hibernate all winter. If these are damaged by someone skiing over them, it can be fatal for the grouse.”
A collective effort
The work is now set to proceed and Sandrine is glad to say that it’s a partnership with all these concerned; vacationer operators, ski resorts and native residents.
“We do a lot of work raising consciousness, and highlighting the importance of preserving the Alpine environment, and these days I think everyone agrees that we can all share the mountains.”
There are 17 ski resorts surrounding the Parc National de la Vanoise, and the Compagnie des Alpes – which runs La Plagne, Les Arcs, Tignes, Val d’Isère, Méribel, Les Menuires, Serre Chevalier, and Grand Massif – finance a few of this work.
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They additionally set up and monitor a number of the mandatory tools.
“The Birdski project was a grand success, and the work will continue, probably with new funding under another name, because I think everyone involved understands its importance”, says Sandrine Berthillot.
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