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“I discovered that in Paris, there are a heap of other birds than just pigeons or sparrows. During our outing, we saw more than 60 different kinds of birds; extraordinary!” a participant in last year’s Festival of Nature observed.

A celebration of nature, a discovery of biodiversity, and an urgent call to action for its conservation, the Fête de la Nature (Festival of Nature, 18-22 May 2011) embraces all of these as one of the biggest and widest-reaching nature festivals in the country. Created by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Terre Sauvage nature magazine, the festival celebrates the richness of biodiversity in France, while raising awareness of the need to protect it.

During the festival weekend, a series of free ‘discovery’ events occur at different sites across the country, utilizing the expertise of conservation workers and volunteers who facilitate and lead participants on various outings into natural areas. Hundreds of walks are set up, including hikes into natural spaces that are normally inaccessible to the public.

Bruno Muzzatti, a mountain guide who has participated in the festival, is enthusiastic about having helped lead an event. “I was proud to share my knowledge and to explain on the ground an abstract word which we use often: sustainable development.” The festival is also an opportunity to raise awareness of the work of hundreds of local organizations in the conservation and care of the environment.

Each year, more than 400 groups are involved in leading events and highlighting their activities to the public. In a weekend of nearly 1,500 activities and attracting in excess of 300,000 participants each year, the festival’s reach means that it is also an immense opportunity to emphasize the importance of ecology.

“It is an exceptional moment to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect biodiversity, and our aim is to encourage people to think about the place humans have in nature and our responsibility in its conservation,” says Chantal Théolas, spokeswoman for the IUCN.

The festival reinforces how essential it is for everyone to be involved in the preservation of nature. To this end, the official Fête de la Nature website encourages people to create and add their own outings to a national database of events, which can also be used to search for activities in a specific area. For example, in Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, there was listed an outing to explore the world of orchids, with no less than fifteen different kinds in that region alone. Led by the Forest Centre, participants were taught about the role these flowers play in the local ecosystem. A similar event was set up in Finistère, Brittany. There an exploration of the coastal region was led by a guide, allowing participants to discover the area's natural heritage including birds, flora and landscapes.

In Paris, activities such as organized bird-watching and walks occurred in many parks like the Buttes Chaumont, Jardin des Plantes and Bois de Vincennes. Perhaps one of the highlights was a guided visit to a small ‘forest’ right in the heart of Paris: the Bois Dormoy. The group explored the animal and plant life of this little-known green space, then attended a sculpture and totem workshop using found objects. The event ended with an evening concert in the middle of the forest.

The Festival of Nature aims to encourage us all to discover the natural riches at our very doorsteps, and to renew our strong links with the environment. The idea is that everyone is an agent in the conservation of nature and its biodiversity. Indeed, all of us can appreciate, value and care for the environment while celebrating its beauty and wonder.

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