EUROPE
The Technical Workshop for Natural Spaces (ATEN) – a professional training network set up by the French Ministry of Ecology – organised a series of study trips on the topic of wolves. Staff working in protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserves, etc.) travelled to countries where people and wolves cohabit, and where animal farming practices take into account the presence of these predators. The goal of these encounters was to re-learn what it means to live in areas recolonized by wolves.
Vincent Vignon, an ecologist and wolf expert, was asked to take part as a trainer on three of these trips (Castile and Asturias in Spain, and Romania). The three-part training involved on-the-ground experiences, encounters with various individuals and classroom work, with oral presentations and discussions of wolf ecology.
O.G.E. has just gotten a new mission in Romania. Bertrand Sicard (from Vita Sylvae Conservation) wants to prevent deforestation in the Murmurs. Indeed, clearcutting activity has been increasing in this region for 10 years. O.G.E. is helping Vita Sylvae Conservation to select the forest which have to be preserved for their ecology. Bertrand Sicard asked Vincent Vignon (O.G.E.) and Nicolas Gouix (Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels de Midi-Pyrénées) to help him to show the ecological importance of these forests.
At first, O.G.E. will do an environmental diagnostic and will study the saproxylic beetles and the vertebrates in three forests of the region.
CANADA
In 2001, O.G.E., in partnership with the Forest and Wood Industry Service (SERFOB), co-organised a training course in Canada. The goal was to exchange experiences and practices concerning forestry and forest ecology. In addition to France and Canada, representatives from Sweden took part. The training was divided between oral presentations and field trips.
Vincent Vignon shared his experience of applying ecological continuities in the Greater Paris Region.
GUADELOUPE
In 1994, O.G.E. took part in a project to convert the Petite Terre Islands into a nature reserve. The study contributed by O.G.E. consisted of:
- A scientific report on the state of knowledge about the flora and fauna of Petite Terre
- A set of technical proposals for creating and managing the reserve
- A draft decree for the creation of the reserve
CHINA
Working with the architect Antoine Thomas, Jean-François Asmodé took part in the creation of the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre in Macao, and in particular the design of the gardens surrounding the Kun Iam Temple.
