Mountain Battle: Naturalists Take Charge in the Alps

Amid wildfires, heatwaves, droughts, and violent storms, nearly 180 members of the Land Naturalists are converging from July 17 to 19 in Chablais (Haute-Savoie) at a farm located on the planned route of a new highway. The fifth national meeting will focus on activist inventories, decolonizing knowledge, and knowledge exchange. A group discussion with several members of this network (Eden, Sonia, Arthur, and Camille) reveals their commitment to applying biological knowledge in environmental activism.

Decatur Metro — As your gathering begins amidst what seems to be a climate catastrophe this summer, what feelings does this evoke among you as naturalists, ecologists, ornithologists, etc., who observe living organisms daily?

Eden, Sonia, Arthur, and Camille — This summer, while working in the forests, I thought to myself: « It’s the apocalypse. » The birds have fallen silent, flowers are scorched, and wildlife rescue centers are overwhelmed. The absence of birdsong is particularly painful, especially knowing that there will be no rain for the next two weeks and temperatures will not decrease.

We’ve observed widespread breeding failures, for instance in grey harriers. For those of us connected to agricultural communities, the situation is equally grim: farmers are already feeding hay to their livestock, and vegetable growers are struggling to meet demand…

The ongoing sixth mass extinction is well-documented, so we are very aware of what is happening. Nevertheless, it remains incredibly challenging, especially as we know this summer will be cooler compared to future ones.

To combat feelings of helplessness, you advocate using your skills in fights against unnecessary projects and infrastructure. This year, you’ve even chosen to meet on the proposed route of the A412 highway…

Our meetings always connect with a local cause. This year, we aim to explore ways to fight from mountain ecosystems, which are fragile, heavily managed, and under intense tourist pressure. We are collaborating with several regional mobilizations against various issues, including the 2030 Winter Olympics and, of course, the A412 highway.

The 16.5 km long A412 highway, planned to start construction in September, would destroy about 200 hectares of agricultural and natural land, including part of the farm where we are meeting.

We are here to produce knowledge: conducting inventories, identifying species and habitats that might have been underestimated or overlooked in environmental impact assessments. The data collected during these meetings will support a legal challenge in August. Additional inventories will be conducted on sites proposed for the 2030 Olympics.

You are also opening up other lines of thought to deconstruct our overall perspective, our observation practices of living organisms, and our tools, as seen in your workshop to “decolonize naturalism.” What does this involve?

Western naturalism did not develop in isolation from history. Major expeditions, specimen collection, their classification, and attribution to European scientists went hand in hand with colonial endeavors.

Naming a species is never a neutral act. For centuries, men have named plants and animals after themselves, friends, protectors, or lovers, often overriding local names that existed long before.

Using Latin names doesn’t necessarily solve the issue. Consider Rhinolophus mehelyi, named after a Hungarian zoologist who supported racist and antisemitic theories and was convicted after World War II.

Changing a scientific name is extremely complex because taxonomy favors stability in nomenclature. However, some bat experts are considering renaming it with a vernacular name.

This extreme case poses a broader question: do we want to continue attributing human names and memories to living beings, potentially for centuries?

The goal isn’t to erase accumulated knowledge but to reconsider which knowledge we deem as naturalistic and which we have disregarded. Indigenous peoples have known, described, and named species in their languages without relying on Western nomenclature.

Female naturalists in the 19th century developed practices based on detailed drawing and observation but were long overlooked. In contrast, some revered figures, like a certain American ornithologist, worked by shooting birds before painting them!