Letters: We too have seen a huge drop in biodiversity in French countryside

I agree with Paul Sullivan, the reader who remarked that biodiversity around his Normandy property has plummeted in the past decade.

We moved to Aude in 2015, to a house with a 3,800m2 garden at the edge of a village, right next to a vineyard.

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At first, we saw deer, wild boar, rabbits, hares, foxes, eagles, hawks, buzzards, swallows, martins, owls, bats, clouds of butterflies and bees (especially carpenter bees), pine martens, red and black squirrels, hedgehogs, dragonflies and damselflies, vipers and river snakes (there is a river at the end of our garden), and a whole host of other insects and amphibians. 

At night, the vineyard would be filled with the songs of hundreds of frogs, and the days with the buzzing of bees and cicadas.

As we walked through the garden, hordes of grasshoppers would jump out of our way. We would often find giant grasshoppers, lizards and praying mantis in the house, but no more.

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Even the cicadas have greatly reduced in number. Only the owls and other birds of prey seem to remain in about the same number. 

Before retiring about seven years ago, the owner of the vineyard only sprayed his vines twice a year, but the farmer he rents it to now sprays with gay abandon at least once a month, as do the owners of other nearby vineyards. 

I gave up drinking French wine long ago!

The butterflies have almost disappeared and we have seen only two carpenter bees this year.

Every year we were visited by three Eurasian hoopoes, but we have not seen them for the last three or four years, and this year we found at least four dead sparrows in the surrounding fields and vineyards, untouched by cats or dogs.

The swallows are rarely seen, and we have not caught sight of a wild boar, fox, squirrel, rabbit, pine marten or snake for at least a year. The hedgehogs disappeared three or four years ago.

In the very early morning we occasionally see a couple of deer (something we keep strictly to ourselves) and the odd hare, but the local hunters proudly tell us there are no deer, rabbits or hares, as they have killed them all, they have only boar left to hunt.

'Run-off contaminates river'

We have seen at least two vignerons who are so ill from spraying their vines that they regularly carry portable oxygen tanks to help them breathe, but they still continue to spray herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, etc, without protection! 

And they all use glyphosate; after all, they have always used it, why would they change?

The run-off from the vineyards and fields goes directly into the river. Our neighbours, not all of whom have the right to do so, regularly draw water from this river to fill their water butts for their gardens. 

Needless to say, when offered vegetables I thank them, offer some of our uncontaminated veg in return, and discretely add their items to our composter.

Our garden runs down to the river but we have fenced it off to keep our dogs away from the water.

When, while out walking once, one of our dogs ignored recall, managed to get down the 10 metre drop to the river and drank some of the water, he vomited shortly after and was unwell for the rest of the day.

We always take water with us for the dogs, but on this occasion he did not wait but made straight for the river.

It has become so bad that we have put our house on the market and are leaving France for a more environmentally aware country.

Prue Woodbridge, Aude

Have you noted a decline in French biodiversity in recent years? Do you think that the countryside is polluted? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com