“La Rivière” is a film that warns of the fragility of the Pyrenees rivers

In theaters November 22, 2023, the documentary La Rivière paints a personal portrait of the Pyrenees. We recognize that freshwater environments have complex processes with multiple issues where science is rarely heard.

The Béarn and Soule Gaves are torrents that flow down the slopes of the Pyrenees to eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean. These waterways appear undated. They cross almost familiar landscapes.

Unknown environments

However, there is nothing ordinary here, as we learned from Dominique Marchet’s documentary river Which will be released in cinemas on November 22, 2023. More importantly, these environments are little known. This is scientific “stuff” where there is still a lot to be discovered. However, we lose its balance and overexploit it without knowing the consequences.

Hydrogeologists, ecologists, naturalists, and ichthyologists frequent these banks diligently to understand how they work and detail their disturbances. This stage of the water cycle is actually the only stage in which humans can leave their mark strongly, evaporating over the oceans and keeping rain beyond the reach of their influence. After corn cultivation has dried up, been contaminated with plastics, pesticides and nitrates, and has been calibrated and corrected on part of its paths, its natural functions are severely affected. This is what Patrick Nokes, a native of the country and one of my managers, said Pyrenees National Park. The corn is accused. But in general, it is indifference that is denounced. People do not consider the river to be their own entity, a “being” with its own functions, balances, and close relationships with the lands it crosses.

Read alsoIn the Pyrenees, glaciers are declaring bankruptcy

Scientific alerts are heard less and less

From the glaciers in the Pyrenees where the Ghaf River sources to the Adour River where it flows, this unique ecosystem is in danger. For this reason, scientists are surveying its banks to find out the details of the plant and animal species that live here, to understand the paths of the waters that are still far from being fully known, as a large part of them[…]

read more

Read more at sciencesetavenir.fr

Read also