Par Murielle Bouchard
Published on
updated on June 14, 23 at 7:54
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Review all the data concerning the number but also the different species (fauna and flora) present in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) was no small feat. And yet, the Océane city has today its updated biodiversity atlas. The last inventory dated back to 2011.
Antonin Gimard, municipal councilor in charge of Nature in the city, draws up with 76 currently the main conclusions.
Did you know: there are penguins in Le Havre?
This is not a joke ! It is one of the new species listed in this atlas: the penguin torda. “It’s a bird that when winter sets in in Scandinavia, descends to more lenient latitudes and comes to spend the winter close to home. The observers of the LPO therefore observed it even if the ecologists knew that they were passing near our coasts. There, we know that we distinguish it at home. It’s one of the iconic species because we don’t expect to have any, but in the end they are there every winter, ”explains the chosen one.
The number of butterflies multiplied by 8!
According to the latter, “What surprised us the most was the number of species counted. Before, we knew 1400 over the period 2010-2021 and in 2023, we went to 2033 species and the increase is mainly in plants and insects. »
A significant increase that cannot be explained (only) by climate change. “Some places could not have been identified before and then we also have invasive alien plant or animal species linked to the global flow of plants and animals that have appeared. »
It is also a sign that developments such as shelter islands (grassed areas which will only be mown once every three to five years, editor’s note) work.
The atlas highlights, for example, that the number of butterflies has been multiplied by eight and the number of butterfly species present by two.
And on the frog side: “Three quarters of the species listed in Normandy are present in Le Havre. »
28 hectares of refuge islands have been installed in Le Havre, “if in each Le Havre pavilion, a refuge island of 10 m2 was created, we would reach 250,000 ha”, suggests the elected official with a smile.
Biodiversity week from June 15 to 24
The City of Le Havre organizes Biodiversity Week. A launch party is organized on Thursday June 15, 2023 at 7 p.m. with the screening of the documentary film “The Secret Life of the Garden” by Samuel Guiton in the presence of the film crew.
“In a corner of the countryside, in Normandy, the owner is absent from his house and leaves his garden to himself for a while. So, it’s a whole little people who grow bolder and show themselves to us in all their diversity: foxes and hedgehogs, nettles and butterflies, spiders or newts, thrushes and swallows… a marvelous world and wild which crosses and sometimes confronts itself.
Useful information :
Screening Thursday June 15, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the University of Le Havre, 25 rue Philippe Lebon (amphitheater 6). Free. Reservation here: https://my.weezevent.com/projection-la-vie-secrete-du-jardin
Protected species that come to nest
Also among the good news, “We are very happy to see that at the level of the estuary, the facilities are working. Today we have nesting, for example of the teal which is a fairly well-known bird, especially in the estuary, a species hunted in winter and for which there are less than 500 pairs in France. » Including one in Le Havre.
The presence of Peregrine Falcon in the Le Havre cliffs is also a good thing. “There had been a sharp decrease in their presence until the 1990s, but it is a species that is in the process of reconquering its space and we even have a couple installed at the top of the Saint Joseph church. »
And if we talk about the flora, the chosen one is happy to announce that a certain number of species of orchids “which we were not aware of before could also be listed. »
Only one regret and not the least…
“We only regret that before 2010, we noticed the presence of the spotted salamander. The salamander and Le Havre is quite a story!
“And unfortunately we did not find it in the places surveyed. “Let the people of Le Havre be reassured, “That absolutely does not mean that she has disappeared. We do not give up elsewhere and we even have a small idea of where she could be hiding. »
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