These insects render an absolutely indispensable service to nature and to man: they are pollinators.
Without them, many plant species could not reproduce. It so happens that today, between sincere concerns and a lack of accurate data, we do not know how to quantify the impact of human activities on the bumblebee populations.
By launching a study of this type, the idea is not "simply" to protect nature because it is beautiful, but because it provides genuine services.
Sabrina Thétis
Sabrina Thétis, a special "sustainable development" assistant at Veolia Eau has for several months been observing the work of a PhD candidate preparing a thesis in connection with a joint project between Veolia Eau and the French National Museum of Natural History. Based on studies of the biodiversity present on the corporate sites, a new project has been conceived: evaluating the presence of bumblebees.
Just how are they affected by their urban or rural environment ?
An observatory has been launched.
Why launch a "bumblebee observatory" ?
How will this observatory function ?
Fabien Verfaillie, the person whose thesis is being supported by Veolia Eau, alongside the National Museum of Natural History, and who originated this specific project, has designed an explanatory booklet telling how, after a short training session, you can recognize the various species of bumblebees. Having already worked on the data of the butterfly observatory, he determined that the error rate of the observations collected by volunteer novices was very low. He therefore organized regular training sessions on bumblebee identification.
With the accompaniment of the Groupement Associatif de l'Estuaire (GAE), the first tests were conducted around the Loire estuary and in the Ile-de-France area.
For the Paris region, we also rely on the staff of Veolia Eau. The project will then be extended to the whole of France and to all publics.
Being a close acquaintance of Fabien Verfaillie, you naturally became the sponsor of the project: how are you going to get involved ?
Well, to my great surprise, I got in too deep! To tell the truth, I really don't like insects all that much, but I spent more and more time on the weekends, in the parks, looking at flower bushes and identifying the varieties of bumblebees! It's tremendous fun.
In addition to that, I will be accompanying Fabien and his association on further steps concerning this observatory. We are thinking about the educational aspect and the tools required to dispense training to primary school students, the idea being that awareness of biodiversity conversation from infancy is important.
Besides, the bumblebee observatory is also aimed at the local authorities and will propose sufficiently rigorous inventories to help them better manage their living heritage. If it turns out that some species are regressing, we could perhaps reverse the trend by reducing the pressure on the environment (limitation of releases into the environment, change in open space management methods, suspension of the use of pesticides, etc.).
