Description

This project covers two wetlands which have suffered tremendously in recent years. It involves two Mediterranean reed marshes used for many purposes and with a great natural and cultural heritage value. The representatives of the Joint Union of the Lower Aude River Plain (SMBVA) and the Joint Union of the Gard Camargue (SMCG) took part in the European Life Nature project designed to improve the management of reed beds (massifs of Phragmites australis)  to preserve the Eurasian Bittern ( Botaurus stellaris) , a vulnerable heron at European scale. They test the ButorStar role play developed under the educational module of this project. Thus made aware of the possibilities, they were interested in testing the tool and the ComMod approach in their respective areas. The ComMod ADD project and the call for projects by the Fondation de France in Spring 2005 formalised this project. Experiments with a companion modelling approach were therefore applied in both these areas: one in a context of advanced consultation and the other in a context of “paused” consultation. It involving checking that role play sessions set up with the users could encourage or revitalise the multi-stakeholder consultation by widening the vision of participants through improving their understanding of the wetland, its dynamics and its specific interdependences.

Two role play sessions were organised in 2006 with twelve users from the Vendres pond (hunters, livestock farmers, owners, technicians, NGOs). They were asked to fill in a questionnaire to assess (1) the acquisition of knowledge on the functioning of the ecological system, (2) the awareness of effects of user practices on other uses and the environment, (3) the awareness of the interaction mode of participants in terms of negotiation/consultation as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the approach.

A role play session was organised in 2007 with 8 stakeholders from the Charnier-Scamandre ponds. The result of the game session highlighted the need of awareness rising of local elected representatives and to work closely with decision makers to improve the negotiation process related to collective decision in the management of the whole wetlands.

The approach resulted in collective awareness of the many implications of inappropriate water management and/or the development of certain activities on the reed bed and its avifauna. All users were interested in repeating the experiment. Several of them acknowledged that it had transformed significantly the social links and the perception of both hunting and nature conservation.