A day of awareness on the Lot and its environment, a central watercourse of the city of Mende

The Lot was at the center of attention, this Saturday, May 25, 2024, on the occasion of “Lot à la bouche”. Throughout the day, activities allowed the public to discover this watercourse in all its aspects: history, biodiversity, functioning, role, ecology, etc.

“What we realize is that when we organize this type of event, the people who come are already convinced and made awareexplains Guillaume Canar, director of the Lot Dourdou joint union, who initiated the project. The objective of “Lot à la bouche” was therefore to bring new people in by focusing on the playful and artistic aspect.” To do this, the joint union contacted the Réel CPIE de Lozère, a network which brings together associations and stakeholders in environmental education.

Minnow fishing

Around the Mirandol stadium, the youngest were able to learn about coarse fishing, under the watchful eye of Grégory Richard, responsible for activities at the fishing federation, and teenage members of the Balsièges fishing club and of Mende. Corentin and Timéo, aged 9 and 10 respectively, were over the moon: “We caught five fish!” Small minnows that have been placed in an aquarium before being released.

During this time, the artist and graffiti artist Grumo inaugurated his fresco created on the stadium locker rooms with the help of ten students from Notre-Dame high school in the plastic arts option. “We are very happy to have participated in this project”, smiled Alice and Nina, high school students involved. For his part, Grumo thanked the students for their investment: “All their ideas inspired me and allowed me to achieve this end result.” It was also the high school girls who traced the outlines of the fresco before Grumo added the color.

A boat trip

Who says Lot, says river and above all navigation. The public was able to enjoy a one and a half hour outing on a raft, from Mirandol to Bressal, to be as close as possible to the water. With the theme of fauna and flora. “This walk completely changes our perception of the Lottestifies Charles Duterte, Alepe employee and host of the outing. There are Mendois who have difficulty finding their way in certain places.” Portions usually inaccessible to walking but which can be covered thanks to the current.

And a current that finally took the audience to the last location of the event in the afternoon: Wunsiedel Park. There, people were able to taste Lozère waters from the “water bar” and try to distinguish them. Or take a quiz and listen to stories about water. All in a festive spirit.