Trésor to be enlarged by 1447 ha!
For some years the Trésor Foundation and the Conservatoire du Littoral have collaboratively worked on an important enlargement of the original territory of the Trésor reserve.
All necessary procedures in French Guyana have now successfully been finalized and at the moment we are waiting for the formal signature 'from Paris'.
After having received this signature the Conservatoire du Littoral will transfer the new territory to the Trésor Foundation to be managed and protected in the same way the present reserve is being looked after.
In advance of this financial contributions by the WWF and energy supplier Greenchoice have enabled the appointment of an additional forester, Charlotte Briand. This is necessary to facilitate adequate management of the now much larger reserve.
Working visit to Trésor by board member Aart de Lang
Aart de Lang
From September 15 to 25 I have paid a working visit to French-Guyana. During this visit I have been able to talk to members of our Association and many important contacts for our Trésor-initiative.
In some cases this could be combined with a visit to our reserve, together with our people of the Association. The visit of the president of the Dutch World Wildlife Fund has been a highlight of this visit.
President Johan van den Gronden (WWF Netherlands)
and Dominique Plouvier (WWF Suriname) visit Trésor
While walking along the trail Charlotte explains to (from right to left) Anja van den
Gronden, Anna Teixeira Cavalcante, Johan van den Gronden and Dominique Plouvier. |
During an interesting tour which during the absence of our keeper Olivier Tostain (who was urgently required in France) and our warden Kévin Pineau (who was on holiday) was given by our other warden, Charlotte Briand, together with Isabelle Delafosse, member of the board of our local Association Trésor, I had the opportunity to give Johan van den Gronden and his wife Anja, and also Dominique Plouvier (WWF Suriname) a good impression of our Trésor project. They were all very interested and impressed by the professional approach, which clearly shows in the well-kept trail and the nice new sustainable green signs (produced by the Botanical Garden of Utrecht) with the information of many plants and trees alongside the trail. But the large information panels mounted on a kind of totem poles and of which each contains relevant and beautifully illustrated information on a specific aspect of the forest are even more beautiful. Two of these panels have already been erected, another six will follow. Talking to Johan I have thanked him once again for the support we have been and are receiving from the WWF and have drawn his attention to the salary of our two warden for the coming years. This is an urgent problem since Charlotte's contract has to be renewed by the end of October. Johan prefers this to be seen to through WWF France. (Very soon we will sit down together with Allard Stapel and Alois Clemens of WWF The Netherlands to draw up the final agreement in this matter.)
The building of the carbet may start at any moment
The Association has made a final alteration to the offer of the ONF. Consecutively ONF has altered its offer. As soon as the Association has accepted this latest offer ONF may start. It is intended to start building in October so the carbet will be ready before the start of the rainy season in December. The sawing of planks has already started.
(The latest news is that the final offer has been accepted by the Association, a definitive order to start building has been given and the building itself has started in the week of October 20!)
Visit by Romain Renoux (WWF France Outre Mer) to Trésor
A delegation of WWF visiting Trésor. On this location the new carbet will be built.
From left to right: Isabelle Delafosse, Charlotte Briand, Romain Renoux,
Aart de Lang and Laurent Kelle.
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Romain Renoux, resposible for the Outre-Mer-activities of WWF France, visited French-Guyana because of the congress on biodiversity. He has also met Johan van den Gronden and Dominique Plouvier. He was very interested in our project and we have received him in our reserve on Saturday 20 September and walked along the trail. Charlotte and Isabelle Delafosse (board member of the Association Trésor) gave an explanation. He asked may questions about our project and I have been able to inform him extensively about how Trésor has come into being, our operating procedures, our sponsors, our contributors and the various scientific expeditions in the area which were made by Renske and others, and about the inventories of flora (and also fauna) which have been made. I also had the opportunity to explain our educational projects. Of course I have also talked about the status of our reserve and our wish to change from being a Réserve Naturel Volontair into a Réserve Naturel Regional. To achieve this the Conseil Régional has to draw up the necessary rules and conditions before May 2009. In order to make this happen we are working on different aspects at the same time. One of which is our MOU with the WWF. Romain Renoux suggested we should make use of publicity opportunity enabling Antoine Karam, President of the Conseil Regional, to 'score' with when announcing the support to Trésor.
Conversation with de managing director of the DIREN
During my visit I also had a conversation with Jean Leduc, managing director of the Directions régionales de l'environnement (DIREN). Our Association had sent him a letter to once again draw the Conseil Régional's (CR) attention to our desire to become a Réserve Naturelle Régionale (RNR). Jean Leduc assured me that he is supporting our aim and will write a letter to the Conseil Régional to support our request and recommending the CR to grant us the status of RNR.
The same week I received a copy of his letter of recommendation to the CR.
Visit of the Conservatoire du Littoral (CdL) from France (Denis Clément and Marc Duncombe) to Trésor
On Wednesday September 24 Charlotte and I are present of the office of the Conservatoire du Littoral at the Rue François Arago in Cayenne at six o'clock in the morning. The nightly darkness quickly changes into morning twilight and then to real daylight. Julie Mariton is the first one to arrive;
The vice-president of the Conservatoire du Littoral from Paris pays a visit to get
acquainted with Trésor. From left to right: Aart de Lang, Denis Clément, Marc
Duncombe, Julie Mariton and Mathieu Entraigusat the entrance of our reserve. |
she immediately starts making coffee. Then Marc Duncombe, Mathieu Entraigues and Denis Clément arrive. Denis is vice-president, the one but highest boss of the CdL in Paris. He travels with Charlotte and me in the car to our reserve. In an animated conversation I am able to tell Denis extensively about how Trésor came into being. He tells us about the aims of the CdL: by 2050 25% of all from the point of view of nature conservation precious coastal areas of France and its overseas territories need to be acquired by the to ensure their protection.
Afterwards we walk along the trail. Charlotte gives an extensive explanation. On the trail we come across an interesting snake (which later on turns out to have been a Xenodon werneri). Marc Duncombe takes a nice picture of it. This is on the cover of this present Trésor Nieuws. Marc has been to Trésor several Times. On behalf of the CdL he is responsible for all French overseas territories and so has a lot of influence within the organisation.
Interesting proposition ONF about the 'large trail' (Sentier de Grande Randonnée)
In France people always eat together before doing business. From left to right:
Aart de Lang, Charlotte Briand, Jean Obstencias and Narjorie Gallay discuss a
possible collaboration to promote eco-tourism in and around our area.
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On Sunday 21 September we have a meeting in the afternoon with the ONF (the French Forestry Commission) in Fourgassié about the 'large trail', de Sentier de Grande Randonnée. This is an initiative of ONF to safeguard the Kaw district, including Trésor. By building the large trail across the entire Kaw district from Roura all the way to Regina, a corridor would be created protecting against nature threatening activities such as gold mining.
We talked to Jean Obstencias, the enthusiastic head of the Sylvetude department of ONF. This department in charge of impact studies, documentation and tourism.
Meeting with the Association Trésor
On Friday 19 September I had a pleasant and useful discussion with the members of our Association, the people who are leading and executing the work locally. Olivier Tostain, Olivier Fortune, Isabelle Delafosse, Elodie Gauld and Charlotte Briand were present. Kévin was on still holiday.
Sometimes meetings are held in the garden behind the office. Note the fan!
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To start with I have expressed my appreciation of their ample good and hard work. For most of them this is unpaid voluntary work. This time I was impressed by their dedication again. Almost every weekend they work really hard on the trail. Olivier Fortune for instance has spent quite a number of weekends preparing the mounting of the information panels on the totem poles. He invented and constructed an ingenious, underground steel construction (which have saved a lot of money). Therefore these totem poles stand very firm and literally and figuratively can stand a bit of rough handling. Elodie spends a lot of time on keeping the books and Isabelle is also a dedicated prop and stay. But I should especially like to mention Charlotte too. Being a warden of Trésor is not just her job - she does receive a small salary - but also her passion. This shows in everything. In de dedication with which she works in the area, in her willingness to work long hours during the weekend as well (getting up while it is still dark and being active all day), in the excellent organisation of my working visit and in the enthusiasm with which she shows and explains to visitors in the area all sorts of details.
All in all this has been a useful, captivating and productive visit. Trésor is really alive in French-Guyana. We should be proud of what we have achieved not in the least with the indispensable financial support of our contributors!
Congress Biodiversity in Cayenne
Aart de Lang
From 16-19 September in the committee building of the Conseil Régional (the Regional Counsil, an elected parliament of a French region) a congress was held on biodiversity with speakers from all French overseas areas, such as Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, la Réunion, New Caledonia, Polynesia and St. Pierre-et-Miquelon. The congress was organised by the Conseil de la Culture, de l'Education et de l'Environnement. More than hundred scientists, representatives of the government and students from the French Outre-Mer-areas took part. All are active on the area of biodiversity.
In this beautiful hall the congress on biodiversity was held in Cayenne.
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During my work visit, together with Charlotte Briand and Anna Rachel Teixeira Cavalcante, I have attended parts of the program on Wednesday and Thursday and took the opportunity to strenghten the bonds with existing relations and to forge new bonds. (Anna is a jurist from Brazil, who studies in France and who by order of the Peruvian government writes a document on the French legislation on the area of nature protection and has chosen Trésor as a model. She has been in Holland and also has had contact with us.)
At the congress I spoke o.a. with Gilles Kleitz, a high official and technical advisor of the French ministery of Environment and Ecology; in his presentation he talked about the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources and how still more legislation is available in France and Europe to promote durability and biodiversity. After his presentation Anna and me had an interesting conversation with him, she on legal matters and me on Trésor. He knew our project and asked us if in the meantime this unique project has had imitation in French-Guyana. And that is of course the case. Since our initiative in 1995 large parts of French-Guyana have been protected as a reserve or national park, such as the last year created Parc Amazonien de Guyane (on which more later). We have exchanged cards.
Romain Renoux (WWF France Outre Mer) gave a presentation in which he pictured a gloomy global image of the threaths for biodiversity: destruction or damage to habitats, biological invasion, over-exploitation of raw materials, climate change.
Our Olivier Tostain gave an impressive presentation with beautiful images on a strategy to protect the biodiversity, based on the bio-geology of French-Guyana.
After the official parts of the congress
there was more than enough opportunity
for informal talks. Here you see Aart de Lang
'net-working' with Bertrand Goguillon
(WWF Guyane).
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After him spoke Cécile Guitet, of the PAG, the Parc Amazonien de Guyane, formated in 2007. This park covers a large part of the central and southern inlands of French-Guyana, between the Marowijne (the border river with Surinam) and the Oyapock (the border river with Brazil), among which Saül. It is an area of no less than 3,4 million hectares and with this it is the largest national park of France and Europe. Aims are o.a. the protection of biodiversity, the interests of the original occupants, contribution to long-lasting development and the promotion of scientific research. It all sounded very familiar. Did they perhaps take an example to our Tresor-reserve?
FrédéricHuyhn, director of the Unité Espace IRD from Montpellier, gave a presentation on Télédétection, a new means to protect the biodiversity from outer space. The number of satellites that can be used for this, was in 2003 23, in 2006 29, now 54 and in 2010 73! It is a kind of Big-Brother-is-watching-you which makes thorough analyses possible of the impact of disturbances of the environment.
Pierre-Jean Morel, director régional ONF explained how wood industry is possible while maintaining biodiversity. Charlotte told me later that ONF does this very carefully and with a great deal of respect for nature. Although the wood industry, thanks to ONF, is well organised, the rest of this industry in French-Guyana is nowhere near ok, so that wood even needs to be imported.
Eric Hansen, delegate Outre-Mer of the ONCFS (Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvages) illustrated that on the area of the illegal hunt the rules will be sharpened. The number of arrests rises and severe punishment follows, up to 6 months of imprisonment.
Formation Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels Guyane (CENG)
Wednesday 17 September was an important day for Trésor. During the congress on biodiversity, a number of organisations, among which Trésor, signed the memorandum of association of the Conservatoir des Espaces Naturels Guyane (CENG).
The daily board of the CENG. Charlotte Briand (second to the left) holds the
position of vice-chairman on behalf of Trésor.
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This is a cooperation between le Group d'Etudes et de Protection des Oiseaux en Guyane (GEPOG), Trésor, l'Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, l'Office National des Fôrets, le Parc naturel Régional de Guyane, la Société d'Etude, de Protection et d'Aménagement de la Nature en Guyane, AGEP (the Kaw-reserve), and le Parc National du Sud.
All these organisations manage a reserve and because of this have to deal with the same problems, so it is smart to work together.
CENG is a part of the French federation of Conservatoires, so that we have access to all facilities and contacts of this in France situated federation.
On behalf of Trésor 'our' Charlotte was appointed as Vice-president. The well-known José Gaillou has been appointed as president of the Parc naturel Régional de Guyane in the board of this Conservatoire. But he is also vice-president of the Conseil Régional!
No gold mining in the Kaw area
Aart de Lang
The good news in the 'France Guyane' of last Sepember 25
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Sarkozy thwarts Iamgold's Harmony plan
The argument seems to have been decided! Once again the French president Sarkozy has frustrated the Canadian multinational Iamgold (formerly Cambrior). For many years the mining company has been trying to get permission to mine gold right next to our beautiful Trésor Reserve. This would have caused irreparable damage.
The local population started an enormous cooperative movement against this project that united 33 Guianese organisations, numerous deputies and personalities and , of course, a large majority of the Guianese population. A tough battle that demanded a lot of energy.
After their first plan had been stopped by Sarkozy at the very last moment, Iamgold was now engaged in a sugar-coated offence. Their new plan 'Harmony' would remove all objections. Iamgold also subtly pointed out the employment the plan would create for the local population, something that was regarded as a very important issue and that they used to find support from the community. They also asked for support from the WNF, but Laurent Kelle of WWF French Guiana took no notice. And now the good news.
On the last day of my working visit I read in the paper 'France Guyane' that Iamgold had to deal with another refusal after the rejection of the Camp Caïman project. Deputy Chantal Berthelot had received a writing form the head of the cabinet of the president of the republic, Sarkozy. In this writing he confirmed that the 'Harmony' plan would not be accepted either. Iamgold took note of the decision. 'This does not alter the position of our company in France Guiana whatsoever. We follow the next mining project that is being set up with great interest.'
This mining project has to be turned in by the government before the end of the year. In this plan the government will announce in which areas gold mining will definitively not be permitted. Rumours have it, and we trust, that the whole Kaw area will most probably be protected. This means that gold mining will definitely be forbidden there. A tremendous windfall!
An interview with Annemie Posner-Janssen
A treasure for Trésor!
Aart de Lang
Good management of a piece of tropical rainforest in the Amazon in South America is not an easy task for a Foundation whose goal is conservation and education. And even though you've had French at school for years, it is not your native language. Correct translations can make or break the communication with the authorities, governments and people in French Guiana concerned with that management. Translating correctly is not an easy job and that is why we are so happy with the Dutch volunteers who support us in every way with the translation work.
Translating is a creative activity
You need to translate literally when it concerns legal texts and official documents. When translating other pieces it is also important to transfer the atmosphere, the spirit, and the meaning as well as possible. Sometimes this asks for a more liberal translation without violating the integrity of the original work. In short, you need a sensitive hand of writing and a playful mind. Both qualities are fully present in one of our volunteers, Annemie Posner-Janssen, and we would like to give her a special acknowledgment in this edition of Trésor News.
From website to law text.
Annemie has been working as a volunteer for Trésor for many years. She was one of our first volunteers who translated our website, which we are rightfully very proud of. I still remember the utterly surprised faces of the higher ranking civil servants at the Conseil Regional in French Guiana when they saw our trilingual website www.tresorrainforest.org , which in fact promotes their country. Annemie put a lot of effort into this website. Annemie was also the one who translated the complicated relevant articles and legislation for us into Dutch, when we had to take action in connection with a threatening gold mining project right next to our territory.
Aart de Lange interviewing Annemie Posner during the donor's day in the Botanical Gardens in Utrecht.
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The Dutch translation of the management plan (Plan de Gestion) developed by our employees in French Guiana is also hers, as well as the underlying documents. Thanks to her hard and professional work we, the board members of the Trésor Foundation, could study the Dutch translation of the complicated French legislation concerning national and regional nature parks. This enabled us to make a well-considered choice regarding which status would be best for our Trésor area in order to reach our goals.
Good communication
Annemie also writes the French translation of the minutes of our board meetings, which makes them available for the members of our Association in French Guiana. She also transcribes the Dutch translations of the meetings of he Association. This facilitates a good communication and prevents a lot of misunderstanding. Furthermore, Annemie translates lots of other documents that we, being the board, need in order to be able to manage your and our reserve adequately. You can imagine how much time and energy all this work takes. That is why we are very happy with the effort Annemie and her colleagues show and thought this was worth a bouquet of flowers. But, who is Annemie actually?
Cosmopolitan
Annemie is a true cosmopolitan. She lives in Spain, not far from Valencia, but part of the year she is in the Netherlands. She lived in Curaçao, where she was the principal of a secondary school for 17 years and taught French and Spanish. She also lived in Austria, so she is a true cosmopolitan. Besides, she has been the neighbour of our board member Frans Maas Geesteranus and his wife Marga for some time now. They were the ones who 'discovered' her for Trésor. Annemie whole-heartedly said "Yes" when asked if she wanted to work for our foundation as a volunteer. She is not the type of person to fill her days merely with social obligations such as receptions and invitations. She stills wants to make her contributions to a better world. She was at once moved when Frans and Marga told her about the altruistic work our foundation does together with organisations such as WNF, IUCN and Greenchoice, the supplier of green energy from Rotterdam, as well as more than 1200 passionate donors who support our work and help keeping our tiny Trésor boat afloat financially.
Annemie is a woman with her heart in the right place. She generously makes her time, energy,
creativity and expertise available. Furthermore, she is simply a very kind person. In short, Annemie is a treasure for Trésor!
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