Boris Brandt, educator (in blue) and young people from the IME, Henri Chavarot, deputy in charge of Sustainable Development and Anaïs Toison from the LPO Credits: PC
Since 2011 the municipality has noted that house martin monitoring carried out in Auch showed a decrease of almost 50% in numbers. The reason ? Façade renovation and urban renovation work, the direct destruction of nests or the installation of pigeon scaring devices which are unfavorable to swallows. It is important to remember that swallows and swifts are protected by law and their destruction as well as that of nests is punishable by 3 years of imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros. Actions have been carried out since 2011 in partnership with the Gers delegation of the Occitanie Bird Protection League and the Permanent Center for Environmental Initiatives. This first involves raising awareness among Auscitains about the protection of these birds. If facade renovation work is planned and the existing nests have to be destroyed, it is mandatory to replace them with nest boxes. 2nd action, the census and monitoring of swallow colonies in the upper and lower towns. An application has been set up with the possibility of scanning a QR code on which you can write the date, location, species and number of nests spotted. On the flyer that can be found on the city website, the specificity of swallows and swifts and their habits of life are explained in detail. 3rd action, the development of a cartographic and alert tool on urban works potentially impacting nests. 4th action, the installation of a swallow tower near the music school. Finally, the city has established a partnership with the Ime la Convention and the LPO for the manufacture of nest boxes installed on the Herb Hall. “A partnership”, explained Boris Brandt, specialized technical educator, “which is beneficial for these young people who can thus envisage a professional future”. 22 nest boxes have already been built. Installing these nest boxes is indeed a public health measure, because swallows are very effective in limiting the spread of mosquitoes.
