Alexandre, Théo, Mali, Maxime, Lou-Anne, Lilou, Rachel
We thought this was a nice place to take the group photo; it's the main entrance of the church in Saint-Gervais-sous-Meymont. We have just come from the Maison du Parc, which is the headquarters of the PNR Livradois-Forez, where we interviewed the deputy Director and two of the development workers. We wanted to find out what the Parc is and does, and how it helped the town council of Courpière in its project of rebuilding the rampart and belvedere (the PNR was in charge of getting EU funding for the project, which, apparently, is a long and complicated process).
We found our trip very useful and interesting and fun. We were warmly welcomed and we were given lots of beautiful posters showing the different activities supported by the nature parc.
The posters make local people and visitors to the area aware of what
the PNR does. The nature parc authorities help boost the local
economy by attracting tourists (via its website) and helping people
set up businesses; they protect Nature through their ecological and
educational initiatives; they help local councils and associations
embelish heritage sights especially in the historic centres of small
towns. Basically, the PNR plays a fundamental role in the sustainable
development of the Livradois-Forez!
Our visit to the Maison du Parc inspired our next class project: we will carry out a nature study of our school buildings and grounds. We will then ask the PNR for expert advice on how we can encourage greater biodiversity within the grounds of the ISP (by putting up bird boxes, planting certain types of bushes, etc.). Mali, our class naturalist and bird-watcher, will be in charge of this project!
