The originality of the LIFE Terra Musiva project lies in its coordination of actions that are situated all throughout the environments that constitute this mosaic of landscapes in the territory : open environments, wetlands, agricultural areas, wooded areas, including urbanized areas.
Actions in open environments
The closure of open environments threatens heritage habitats such as the Mediterranean pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals, as well as species that are fully dependent on open environments and cannot live without them. Bonelli’s Eagle finds its food in open environments, while the Woodlark and the Tawny Pipit both nest and feed there.
However, open environments are experiencing a progressive closure under the effect of the natural forest dynamics that are no longer curbed by pastoral pressure.
Actions in wetlands
Two thirds of wetlands have disappeared from France in 100 years.
And yet, they provide environmental services to our society by reducing the intensity of floods and by storing more carbon than forests! Wetlands are reservoirs of biodiversity on which many species depend.
Actions in agricultural areas
While certain agricultural or pastoral practices can be very harmful to biodiversity (i.e. monoculture and the use of phytosanitary products, especially insecticides), other practices can play an essential role in preserving habitats and food resources (insects) for threatened species such as the Little Bustard or the Woodlark.
Actions in wooded areas
The riparian forests of the Cèze and Gardon rivers include several habitats of Community interest such as alder woodlands on floodplains and Mediterranean riparian poplar forests.
Actions in urbanized areas
Municipalities have a major role to play in the preservation of biodiversity.
The Proof? Even urbanized areas can be favourable places for certain species such as Geoffrey’s bat (Myotis emarginatus) which has taken up residence in a barn in the heart of the town of Dions. This colony is the largest in the region with 600 individuals. However, its juvenile mortality has increased since the modernization of public lighting.
Awareness-raising actions
Because we only protect what we like, and we only like what we know well, LIFE Terra Musiva includes a range of awareness-raising actions to reach a maximum number of people. Their objectives: to better understand the reasons for the decline in biodiversity, to know the means available to us individually and collectively to stop this erosion and to encourage citizens to get involved in the preservation of fauna, flora and habitats.