The former curator of the Massane nature reserve, in the Pyrénées-Orientales Joseph Garrigues on the march on January 12, 2024 (AFP/Ed JONES)
The former curator of the Massane nature reserve, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, left on foot for Paris on Saturday to demand an “immediate stop” of pesticides which, according to him, pollute even this forest classified by Unesco and unexploited by man.
“Massane is very resilient, but it is under attack. We need to be able to stop pesticides. It may be difficult for farmers. But we just need to help them move on,” declared shortly before his departure Joseph Garrigue, 60 years old.
Some 300 people came to support him at his place of departure, Racou beach, in Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales), noted an AFP correspondent.
For Mr. Garrigue, who resigned from his post as conservative to be able to walk to the capital, it is a “fight for life”.
According to him, “we do not take into account studies on human health”.
“Even in the reserve, we see nature disappearing. La Massane is high up. With the wind, we take all the molecules which are 80% volatile, the ozone, the chemicals. We have an accumulation of toxic substances”, he also estimated.
“We have worked with hundreds of researchers, specialists from many disciplines linked to nature. All studies show that one of the main reasons for the collapse of this diversity is linked to human activities, and in particular to the use massive amount of biocides, pesticides and treatment molecules for our domestic animals”, he warned in November.
The former curator of the Massane nature reserve, in the Pyrénées-Orientales Joseph Garrigues on January 12, 2024 in Argelès-sur-Mer (AFP/Ed JONES)
Mr. Garrigue left Racou accompanied by a few dozen demonstrators who had to walk with him to Saint-Cyprien, still in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the first stage of his journey of several hundred kilometers.
“We are going to follow the coastline to Sète and continue to Paris. We are going to do 20 km per day. We are going to alert the populations. We have to get moving, if it is not for us, it is for our children,” he said.
The Massane forest nature reserve was created in 1973. It is perched on the heights of Argelès-sur-Mer and dominates the Mediterranean oaks, extending to the crest of the Albères massif, on the border Spanish. Its beech forest became a UNESCO world heritage site in July 2021.
© 2024 AFP
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