Save the date : international colloquium “Des Saumons et des Hommes 3 ” 19-21 October 2023 – Brioude (France)

Ten years after the last meeting, SOS Loire Vivante – ERN is organising a new conference on the Loire salmon. This is an opportunity to take stock of the situation of the Atlantic salmon in the Loire and elsewhere. National and international experts will try to understand the reasons for the decline despite restoration efforts and whether our actions are still in line with current and future challenges.
Is it due to climate change or to phenomena at sea or in the river? During the health check and the presentation of the results of restoration actions, we will compare the case of the Loire with other highly migratory river basins such as the Rhine, the Elbe, the Adour, the Garonne, the Sélune, etc,
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Sélune dams removals in video (12 min)

The Sélune has been free since last autumn. After the dismantling of the two large dams, the path is free for sediment and migratory fish for almost 100 km.

In a 12-minute video (in French and English) with spectacular images, you can follow the steps of the renaturalisation:

Video in french https://vimeo.com/549070141
Video in english https://vimeo.com/546711100

 

More infos about the Sélune

 

Sélune River / France : The salmon is back !

France / Sélune River : Only 4 weeks after the demolition of the Roche qui boit dam and 2 years after Vezin’s demolition, a first salmon was already electronically located upstream of the construction sites !

more information on the dam removals on the Sélune River !

France/Sélune River : the large Roche qui boit dam removed

– The “La Roche qui boit” dam has been removed!
After many postponements, the second 17-metre high dam “La Roche qui boit” on the Sélune has been demolished. A 45-metre wide breach has already been opened to allow the flow of any floods. The remaining sides of the 120 m wide structure and the renaturation work should be completed by the end of 2022. After the demolition of the 37 m high Vezins dam two years ago, the ecological continuity of the historic salmon river Sélune is now restored after about 100 years. In the main river alone, more than 60 km are free and allow access to former spawning sites. Salmons could swim up the Sélune from the Baie Saint Michel during the next salmon migration, at the latest in spring 2023. Two castillons (salmon that have only spent one year at sea) have already been observed by specialists just downstream of the “Roche qui boit”. The campaign for a free Sélune led by associations including ERN, the French Fishing Federation, FNE and others will have lasted 20 years. A great success!

 

Copyright : ERN – Roberto Epple

> more information 

 

May 21, 2022 is World Migratory Fish Day !

May 21, 2022 is World Migratory Fish Day !

Organized every two years by the World Fish Migration Foundation, this day honors free-flowing rivers and migratory fish, which are often threatened. This day, many organizations around the world organize events on the theme “Reconnecting fish, rivers and people”. Already 95 events open to the public are registered, and it is not over.

> Check out the events

> Any association or individual can get involved and register an event.
Organize an event

> Take part in the actions organized by SOS Loire Vivante / ERN:
Virtual visit of the “New Poutès” dam completely reconfigured for salmon migration.

The location of the dam on the upper Allier river is of crucial importance: it determines the access of the salmon to the best spawning areas for the Loire-Allier strain of salmon, a unique strain able to migrate over long distances!

SOS Loire Vivante / ERN will organize a visit to the “new Poutès” dam and will record the visit and conduct interviews on site.

Other actions are being organized by SOS Loire Vivante.

 

> Website of the world fish migration day

The international Dam Removal Europe seminar starts tomorrow!

This year, Dam Removal Europe International Seminar is being organized by WWF (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Dam Removal Europe partners, and in cooperation with regional and international partners. It will take place online from 4 to 7 May 2021 (every afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. Central European Time).

  • May 4, 2021: What is on stake? Why do we need dam removal?
  • May 5, 2021: How to push dam removal forward?
  • May 6, 2021: Benefits of dam removal to nature and people
  • May 7, 2021: Political frameworks and financing

ERN will be among the speakers on the subject of the removal of large dams on the Selune.

You can still register !

>> Find the whole program and register online

 

 

Dam Removal : Publication of the Synthesis of the Selune Conference

The French Office of Biodiversity has just published and put online a booklet (in french only) entitled “When rivers take their course again – Notes on the removal of dams and weirs, on the Sélune and elsewhere”.

This booklet presents the synthesis of the international symposium organized from 24 to 26 September 2019 by European Rivers Network, in partnership with the French Office of Biodiversity (OFB) and its resource center on rivers, the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), the National Federation of Fishing in France, the Seine-Normandy Water Agency and Dam Removal Europe, in Rennes, Avranches and the Sélune valley.

The purpose of this book, based on this unprecedented experience, is to disseminate knowledge on dam removal, the responses of rivers and biodiversity, and the conditions for success of these operations that profoundly transform the territories. Indeed, this dam removal project carried out on the Sélune River in Normandy is exceptional in terms of the size of the structures dismantled, the ambition of the scientific program undertaken for fifteen years, and the controversies it has generated.

Auteur(s) :Laurent Basilico, Jean Marc Roussel, Josée Peress, Corinne Ronot, Stéphane Fraisse,

Éditeur(s) : Office français de la biodiversité – OFB – Février 2021
Nombre de pages : 76

Au sommaire

I – Du « tout-barrages » vers la continuité écologique

  • Une fragmentation généralisée des cours d’eau
  • Impacts écologiques des barrages : quelques rappels
  • L’effacement de barrages : du militantisme aux politiques publiques
  • Un mouvement associatif plus actif que jamais
  • Éclairage – « SOS Loire vivante », un combat pionnier
  • Ce que dit la réglementation, en France et en Europe
  • La vie après l’effacement : des connaissances encore parcellaires

II – Le projet de la Sélune, vitrine et laboratoire

  • Genèse et enjeux d’un projet hors-normes
  • Éclairage – La gestion sédimentaire du chantier de Vezins
  • Un programme scientifique hors du commun (2012-2027)
  • La dynamique fluviale : effet des barrages et premières réponses
  • Communautés d’espèces : quelles dynamiques post-effacement ?
  • Éclairage – L’Observatoire de la Sélune : des données accessibles à tous
  • Végétation des berges et paysages agricoles de la Sélune
  • La dimension sociale et l’avenir du territoire

Première brèche dans le barrage de Vezins, l’un des ouvrages démantelés sur la Sélune (juin 2019, ERN).

III – Contributions d’ici et d’ailleurs à la « boîte à outils » mondiale

  • Hydromorphologie, habitats : quelles réponses des rivières ?
  • Poissons migrateurs : quelle(s) recolonisation(s) ?
  • Des bénéfices écologiques aux bénéfices économiques
  • Financement et conduite des projets : du national au local
  • Éclairage – En Corée du Sud, une mobilisation massive pour sauver les « Quatre rivières »
  • Après les barrages, écrire l’avenir des territoires

National Geographic highlights actions to promote ecological continuity of rivers

Are we finally going to reach a broad awareness of the urgency of restoring the ecological continuity of rivers? The Amber cartography has recently highlighted a staggering number of dams of all sizes that fragment Europe’s rivers (see our news of 05/01 :More than 1 Million). The quantity of small structures and thresholds is considerable. The large dams are no longer the only ones to be pointed at! By displaying the state of degradation of rivers in the eyes of all, this atlas is a very good tool for raising public awareness of the importance of restoring ecological continuity.
In 2020, some prestigious magazines have taken up the cause, such as Nature (2020/12/17) or, in France, the newspaper Le Monde (2020/12/16).  The National Geographic magazine also takes up these figures but points out the fact that in many parts of the world actions are underway to fight against this fragmentation of rivers.  Several examples of levelling or development of dams are cited, such as the Sélune in France. Several members of the Dam Removal Europe movement are interviewed

>> Read the National Geographic article of 2020/12/17

In 2021, ERN will tell you a story in pictures…. but which one??

….the story of the restoration of ecological continuity in France, of course !

Please support our project before December 18

In 2021, our association ERN is going to realize a series of several short films, on the policy of restoration of the ecological continuity in France * : ” For free and living rivers: erase, modify and avoid ” (Project n°1)

To conduct its project, ERN has been selected among others in the framework of MobBiodiv’2020 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB).

Until December 18, citizens can vote to elect a “Coup de coeur du public” among the 47 projects.

Watch our trailer here

VOTE : Did you like it?  Just click here and vote for ERN’s project n°1 “Erase, Modify, Avoid – for living rivers” (Attention, to vote, you have to go to the very bottom of the page!). Thanks !

 

* Indeed, France is a leader in Europe in restoring ecological continuity in particular by erasing small and large cross-cutting structures. Since 1997, it has acquired recognized know-how through innovative policies and major projects. The period 2020-2022 will be marked by large-scale river restoration projects on an international scale: the removal of two large dams on the Sélune and the complete reconfiguration of the Poutès dam on the Haut Allier.
It is to tell and share the French experience that ERN has planned to produce a series of audiovisual modules for the general public, as well as micro-videos for social networks. Broadcasting is planned on a national and international scale.