National Park Trust Institute

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Wednesday morning we climbed aboard our bus for a full day's visit to The Camargue Regional Nature Park. The park was chartered in 1970 and is located at the mouth of the Rhone River. It extends across the entire river delta area. The Camargue is a major world heritage wetland and is host to many fragile ecosystems. The exceptional biological diversity is the result of water and salt in an "amphibious" land inhabited by numerous species. The Rhone Delta drifted periodically until the end of the 19th century. These geological and geophysical characteristics have made this vast expanse what it is today, the result of successive sedimentation from the ebb and flow of the river and the sea. Camargue has not always looked like it does today. It is the result of an incessant struggle between the river, the sea and man. For centuries, the elements tried to reclaim land that the inhabitants had worked so hard to shelter from flooding and tidewaters.

It was not until the 19th century that the sea and river were somewhat tamed and the inhabitants could start extending their farmland to feed the growing population. First, construction of a sea dike in 1859 limited the rise of tidewaters in south Camargue. Ten years later the Rhone was embanked to control flooding that periodically submerged the farmland. The Camarguais then could farm irrigated vineyards, and after WWII, rice was grown extensively. These two crops were an incentive to extend the irrigation ditches, permitting desalinization of more land, but required much more water control equipment. The artificial networks, which were improved in the 20th century, were also used to channel and manage water resources to cope with dry spells and tailor water to growing seasons.

Ponds and marshes cover a large proportion of the river delta. Partly dry in summer, the shallow (20 to 80 cm) marshes are subject to the unpredictable seasonal weather patterns of the Mediterranean climate. They are nevertheless, with the ponds, habitats of choice for migratory and sedentary birds, egrets, night herons, bitterns, mallards and wagtails are common guests in this fragile ecosystem. Pink Flamingos, now the emblem of the Camargue, have a population here that can reach 20,000 couples grouped into flocks. This is the only place in France and one of the few around the Mediterranean where they nest. They are protected by the park.

In order to learn more about the rich cultural heritage of the Camargue, we went along with the guardians (caretakers) of the park during their selection and round up of the bulls just as their ancestors have done for centuries. This was a unique opportunity for our group to learn the importance of cultural as well as natural preservation.

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