Massacre of Bird Habitat: Pruning Disaster on the Banks of the Seine

“It’s a real disaster, a massacre…” Her comments testify to the emotion of this member of the collective “Preservation of the banks of the Seine” who attended the scene. On Monday July 24, around 10:30 a.m., when she arrived at the tip of L’Île-Saint-Denis (93), Natura 2000 area, to document the local fauna, she surprised a radical pruning in this normally protected area.

“It was a barge with a large articulated arm that mowed the bank carelessly,” she says. Problem, the places, an ornithological reserve, are occupied by several species of birds.

Cut branches, fishing and feeding spots for birds

Distraught, she rushes to the barge to ask its occupants to stop everything before notifying the town hall of L’Île-Saint-Denis. But the damage is done. Several tens of meters of the “Ilot” area, located between the park and the tip of the island, have been raked. “They told me that they had nothing to do with it and that they had orders. Worse, they continued under the RER bridge towards the north of the island.

Around noon, the boat leaves and will not return until a little later to take pictures. “I learned that the department had warned the police to stop everything,” adds the member of the collective. She can only see the damage: “Many cut branches served as spots for fishing for kingfishers. “A disaster for this species especially as it happens in the middle of the feeding period for juveniles.

VNF confirms having requested pruning, but not in this area

The collective “Preservation of the banks of the Seine” accuses the public establishment Voies navigables de France (VNF) of being behind this operation. Data confirmed at 20 Minutes by Mohamed Gnabaly, mayor of L’Île-Saint-Denis: “VNF has confirmed to us that it has commissioned the service provider to manage the trees which have fallen after the bad weather of the previous days, and which could represent a danger for the barges. Unfortunately, the company would have gone beyond the initial order. »

According to the city councilor, VNF is fully aware of the protected area and its sensitivity. Solicited by 20 Minutes, the public establishment has not given an answer for the moment. But Mohamed Gnabaly confirms to us that an observation was established on Friday July 28 by two elected officials and a representative of VNF: “It is not easy to determine the extent of the damage because we lack photographs of the existing before the ‘pruning. »

Sanctions against the company and a study to avoid a new disaster

However, an agreement has been reached between the town hall and VNF to recruit an ecologist, an ecosystem expert, in order to refine the conclusions and find the best solution between the safety of traffic on the Seine and the preservation of the wild nature that surrounds it. ‘surrounded.

In addition, VNF assured the town hall that compensation, which could involve replanting, would be provided to the area, as well as penalties applied to the offending company. “We must use this sad case to help VNF review its doctrine,” says Mohamed Gnabaly.

No news from the birds since

“It was a real mistake to attack this area, laments the member of the collective, witness to the damage, all these branches, dead or not, are precious for biodiversity and do not represent any danger for barges, but they allow kingfishers to hunt while overlooking the water, and to be able to sting to catch the fish. »

“I had spotted a population in this area a few days earlier. I had come to take pictures and see if they were still present, ”she says before citing the other species recorded on the scene before the disaster: Herons, water hens, and sandpipers. “I haven’t seen them since and I don’t know if they’ll come back…”