'Human presence': French volunteers protect sheep from wolves
"The wolves are here, there's nothing to be done about that, so we need to find a response," said Welker, 57, wearing a T-shirt that reads: "I'm a farmer and proud of it" as she looked across her sun-drenched valley.
Wolves have made a comeback in Europe, multiplying attacks on livestock and causing angry reactions from farmers, some of whom say the predators should be shot on sight.
The European Union recently downgraded wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected", making such killings easier.
The French government has authorised 192 wolves to be shot this year, out of the country's total wolf population of 1,013.
But some say the killings do little to stop wolf attacks.
The best prevention is "a human presence", said Welker, adding that she had lived alongside wolves for 20 years.
But she cannot afford to pay a full-time shepherd to look after her two flocks, and instead turned to an organisation of volunteers, Pastoraloup, three years ago for help.
READ MORE:
Reader question: Do I need to worry about wolves and bears in the French countryside?
'I support wolves'
Pastoraloup is run by the Ferus association, dedicated to the defence of large predators. It trains volunteers and sends them out to farmers who need assistance.
Welker says she can now "sleep at night and be much less stressed". Meeting people and educating them about farming are a bonus of working with the volunteers.
Advertisement
Around 35 farmers in the French Alps, the Jura and Brittany are taking part in the scheme this year, up from around 20 two years ago.
Morice-Couteau, 45, and Galliot, 48, are among 63 new volunteers who trained last year.
"I support wolves, but I also support farmers," said Morice-Couteau, adding that the presence of the predator could become "one problem too many" for farmers.
Welker fears that "major attacks" are coming, notably in the autumn, when young wolves learn how to hunt.
'Here to help'
In October 2023, 17 of Welker's animals were killed after a volunteer left suddenly, leaving the flock without protection.
At sundown, her two new volunteers herd around 50 sheep -- all meticulously accounted for -- into their night shelter, protected by a 1.4-metre high electric fence.
Morice-Couteau makes a last round in the dark, equipped with a headlamp, before going to bed in a tipi a few metres away, aware that wolves can strike at any time "if they see an opportunity".
Morice-Couteau, who works in the cinema industry, said that she believed farmers and wolves could co-exist, but that her volunteering experience had also made her "understand the violent feelings that some farmers harbour towards wolves".
Advertisement
Tensions have for years been building between farmers and environmentalists over the issue of wolf conservation in France as numbers of the predators have grown.
Welker said there is "very strong social pressure" on farmers who use Pastoraloup which discourages others from benefiting from the programme because it is "labelled environmentalist".
"We're not here for a debate," said Morice-Couteau. "We're here to help."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
4 hours ago
- Local France
A French sailor's personal ‘Plastic Odyssey'
From the deck of the cargo ship he was working on, Bernard was stunned to discover mountains of rubbish piled up in Hann Bay, once a white sandy beach that had become an open sewer in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Thickets of rubbish were almost everywhere along the coast, 'washing into the sea with the tides and waves,' the 34-year-old sailor told AFP. It was, he said, a terrible shock. 'At sea, you don't see the plastic.' Deeply moved by seeing fishermen pulling tangled webs of plastic from their nets, Bernard – newly graduated from France's Merchant Navy – enlisted another engineer, Alexandre Dechelotte, to embark on what he dubbed 'Plastic Odyssey'. The plan was to complete a round-the-world expedition aboard a 40-metre (130-foot) laboratory ship to raise awareness at their many ports of call – especially among children – about the devastating impact of the 20 tonnes of plastic waste dumped into the oceans every minute of every day. The three-year expedition, which partnered with local associations along their route, is almost complete. Bernard secured financial sponsors, starting with a major French cosmetics brand that promoted the partnership as part of its commitment to increase the proportion of recycled plastic in its products. But he said he was under no illusions: he knows that his initiative has had a modest impact on the global fight against plastic pollution. He is also aware of earlier projects with similar goals that fell short of their ambitions. The Ocean Cleanup launch by 18-year-old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat in 2013 – targeting the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California – attracted money and attention but was hampered by design flaws and logistical limitations. A recent reboot of the system has shown greater potential for plastic removal at scale. Advertisement Another initiative launched from France in 2018, the SeaCleaners, also reported disappointing yields of plastic pollution, and folded operations last year under the shadow of financial mismanagement. But Bernard said the cause was too important to ignore, and aimed to prove that even small-scale efforts were critical in striving for a future with less plastic. Plastic Odyssey today has a staff of 35. 'The real solution to plastic pollution is to avoid using it,' he said. Nearly 200 nations are huddled in Geneva this week and next to forge a treaty to tackle the plastics crisis, and one of the most divisive issues on the table is whether to aim for reducing plastics production at the source, rather than simply cleaning up pollution after the fact. Giving up his dream of piloting ferries off the Normandy coast, Bernard left France on October 1st, 2022. He is currently in Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, and is nearing the end of his 30 three-week stops in three continents. His odyssey has taken him across the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. During stops in Marseille, Beirut, Dakar, Recife, Chennai and two dozen other ports, he met with local associations, start-ups and companies working to collect, sort or recycle plastic. Advertisement He marvels, he said, at the 'inventiveness' of the people he met, especially those who have lost everything. He recalled an entrepreneur in Lebanon, who collected recyclable household waste door-to-door from 60,000 people in a country that no longer has a public service for disposing of plastic. Two-and-a-half years into his adventure Bernard gave up his apartment, and he now lives on the boat. The Plastic Odyssey has catalogued more than hundred local solutions for doing without plastic, which is derived from petroleum. Bernard has adopted several of them, including one 'that works very well on board the boat' to make water drinkable, eliminating the need for plastic bottles. 'This has saved us 25,000 bottles of water in two years – almost a tonne of plastic,' he calculated.
Local France
2 days ago
- Local France
French Word of the Day: Peloton
Why do I need to know peloton? Because this word has a variety of meanings outside of competitive cycling. What does it mean? Peloton - roughly pronounced pel-oh-ton - is a word any Tour de France enthusiast would be familiar with. The masculine French noun refers to the main group or pack of riders in the competition. This riding formation allows cyclists to save energy by staying close to one another. But the word peloton has a variety of other meanings in French, which you can use all year round. Advertisement You may hear the phrase en tête de peloton , which means 'at the top of the pack' or being a leader at something. For example, you might refer to a country excelling in green energy industry as en tête de peloton concernant l'énergie verte. The word peloton technically means 'small detachment', and it comes from the Middle French word pelote (little ball), according to the Académie Française. In the French military, a peloton is a small military unit or squadron (usually between 20-30 members). For example, the units of the gendarmerie that conduct rescue operations in the mountains are the Pelotons de gendarmerie de haute montagne , or PGHM. This usage of the word has been around for centuries, and it is the origin of the English word 'platoon'. Peloton is also used in the navy to refer to a squadron division in which the flagship leads the triangle formed by other ships, according to LaRousse dictionary . Use it like this Les deux soldats faisaient partie du même peloton dans l'armée française. - The two soldiers were part of the same unit in the French military. Malheureusement, la cycliste est tombée et a perdu le contact avec le peloton. - Unfortunately, the cyclist fell and lost contact with the peloton.
Local France
3 days ago
- Local France
'Human presence': French volunteers protect sheep from wolves
The two Bretons are volunteers who signed up to protect the flock belonging to farmer Nathalie Welker in the Drome Provencal, in France's southeast, from wolf attacks -- which have become so common that she feels under "pressure" from the predators. "The wolves are here, there's nothing to be done about that, so we need to find a response," said Welker, 57, wearing a T-shirt that reads: "I'm a farmer and proud of it" as she looked across her sun-drenched valley. Wolves have made a comeback in Europe, multiplying attacks on livestock and causing angry reactions from farmers, some of whom say the predators should be shot on sight. The European Union recently downgraded wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected", making such killings easier. The French government has authorised 192 wolves to be shot this year, out of the country's total wolf population of 1,013. But some say the killings do little to stop wolf attacks. The best prevention is "a human presence", said Welker, adding that she had lived alongside wolves for 20 years. But she cannot afford to pay a full-time shepherd to look after her two flocks, and instead turned to an organisation of volunteers, Pastoraloup, three years ago for help. READ MORE: Reader question: Do I need to worry about wolves and bears in the French countryside? 'I support wolves' Pastoraloup is run by the Ferus association, dedicated to the defence of large predators. It trains volunteers and sends them out to farmers who need assistance. Welker says she can now "sleep at night and be much less stressed". Meeting people and educating them about farming are a bonus of working with the volunteers. Advertisement Around 35 farmers in the French Alps, the Jura and Brittany are taking part in the scheme this year, up from around 20 two years ago. Morice-Couteau, 45, and Galliot, 48, are among 63 new volunteers who trained last year. "I support wolves, but I also support farmers," said Morice-Couteau, adding that the presence of the predator could become "one problem too many" for farmers. Welker fears that "major attacks" are coming, notably in the autumn, when young wolves learn how to hunt. 'Here to help' In October 2023, 17 of Welker's animals were killed after a volunteer left suddenly, leaving the flock without protection. At sundown, her two new volunteers herd around 50 sheep -- all meticulously accounted for -- into their night shelter, protected by a 1.4-metre high electric fence. Morice-Couteau makes a last round in the dark, equipped with a headlamp, before going to bed in a tipi a few metres away, aware that wolves can strike at any time "if they see an opportunity". Morice-Couteau, who works in the cinema industry, said that she believed farmers and wolves could co-exist, but that her volunteering experience had also made her "understand the violent feelings that some farmers harbour towards wolves". Advertisement Tensions have for years been building between farmers and environmentalists over the issue of wolf conservation in France as numbers of the predators have grown. Welker said there is "very strong social pressure" on farmers who use Pastoraloup which discourages others from benefiting from the programme because it is "labelled environmentalist". "We're not here for a debate," said Morice-Couteau. "We're here to help."
