Vincent Jouhet intrigues passers-by: they sometimes come across him on all fours on the sidewalk, observing a plant emerging from a crack. Since 2012, the National Observatory “Sauvages de ma rue” has existed (under the aegis of the Tela Botanica association and the National Museum), this retired agricultural teacher is a fierce contributor. More than a thousand readings to his credit.
Choose a section of street, note the date, the precise environment where the wild plant grows (sidewalk, wall, tree base, etc.), identify it among the 240 species referenced in the protocol, photograph it in case of doubt, send the everything on the site or app of the operation. It is not uncommon for the septuagenarian with a white beard living in Roanne (Loire) to devote three days of the week to it. Because since 2018, the stop of pesticides has made the streets bloom again, for his great happiness.
“The poppies have reappeared. Like prickly lettuce and Sumatran fleabane, and small pearlwort that I didn’t even look at before…” Her favourite? “The cymbal of the walls, so moving in its way of collaborating with the mineral. » To name these plants that man has not planted, these so-called “weeds”, is, according to him, to recognize that“they are part of our urban ecosystem, are necessary for pollinators, bring back animal life”. And for this to be known, he came up with the idea of organizing group outings “Wild people on my street” every spring.