[Rétro] Berry: the bocage, from science to popularization, it only takes a leaf!

First published Sunday, February 25, 2024

The Brenne-Berry Permanent Center for Environmental Initiatives is coordinating a participatory project to raise awareness of scientific argumentation in the face of socio-environmental controversies. The collective tool, currently being developed, will be returned to the public during the second edition of the Fête du Bocage scheduled for July.

« The hedge is an anthropogenic system that links man, nature, agricultural activities and policies, restores Jacques Lamy, administrator of Nature 18February 22, 2024 as part of the participatory project of Permanent Center for Environmental Initiatives (CPIE) Brenne-Berry. The bocage appeared between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is linked to the emergence of property, that is to say to the individual appropriation of lands which were previously common. To delimit them, the owners invented the fence by the system of the hedge. »

A member of the association for the protection of nature and the environment in Cher, he took part in group work carried out at the Saint-Maur (18) village hall alongside around fifteen other Berry residents, including farmers, hunters, naturalists and municipal elected officials, as part of the actions carried out by the collective. Bocage in sharing of which the CPIE Brenne-Berry is a part.

Since December 20, 2023, nearly 24 locals have engaged in this definition work. Each of the participants – farmer, independent photographer, municipal councilor of Senneçay, facilitator of the‘Addear 18, actor of the community of communes Heart of France, of Sud Berry Regional National Park – from Culan, Ardennais, Saulzais-le-Potier, Ineuil, Saint-Amand, Plaimpied, Epineuil-le-Fleuriel and Saint-Vitte were able to introduce themselves and discuss the special links they have with the bocage.

The first brainstorming session resulted in a mapping of the bocage with the words provided by each of the participants.

Understanding and analyzing controversies

« The diversity of these approaches is rich, if only to understand the complexity of the subject and allow everyone to grasp the point of view of the other. “, presents Mélanie Couret, head of the Saint-Amand branch of CPIE Brenne-Berry.

A modern landscape, the bocage is at the heart of current environmental concerns. It arouses as much tension as wonder. And it is by proposing a research work over six sessions, carried out between December and February, that this specialist in the solidarity development of territories wishes to give keys to the participants so that they can defend their point of view with factual, verified and scientifically proven elements.

A tool for building a scientific argument

Each group then writes a summary which it shares with the other participants, who are invited to comment on this data. The interest is, in the long term, that the inhabitants are able to scientifically argue a position and that they become ambassadors of the bocage in our territories. “, explain Mélanie and Angélique.

This project, which began with a map based on the words and subjective representations of each person on the bocage, will culminate in the second edition of the Grove Festival in Meillant on July 7, 2024 with the creation of a popular science tool for the general public.