Le Nid - Spring Newsletter 1997
ECIS (European Council of International Schools) ConferenceDiscover continues to spread it wings and recently exhibited at the ECIS (European Council of International Schools) Conference in Nice. Interest was generated from British and American International Schools. Teachers welcomed the support of a British centre in France to support IGCSE, A level and IB (International Baccalaureate) needs. We will next be exhibiting at the 1997 GA Conference, (Geography Association, UK), on 2-4 April at the Institute of Education, University of London. Once again we will be holding our free champagne raffle for those who call at our stand - tell your friends. We have decided to include 2 tickets automatically for clients who have travelled with us in the last 2 years - come to say hello! I am pleased to tell you that Julian Hodgson, a former geography teacher from Croydon High School and Philip Ray who worked with the Field Studies Council at their Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre, will be joining our academic support staff in France. If you wish to get the dates you require, we are taking early reservations for the 1998 season (see back page) As usual I cannot end without a mention of the Kasbah centre in Morocco. It was recently transformed by a Hollywood film crew into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and much needed winter work was generated for the local community of Imlil. We are organising an inspection visit over the New Year holiday 1997 / 98 - details from Jacquie at the office.
The Stevenson TrailSome of our groups doing river studies during last summer may have been surprised to meet holiday makers leading donkeys laden with baggage. They were actually following in the tracks of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson who published his travel diary, of "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" in 1879. Since 1994 an association has promoted walks along what is now called "The Stevenson Trail", which is one of the French countryside routes, number GR70. The association tells you which auberges can provide facilities to welcome the walkers' hire donkeys and even the hotel owners who will drop you back to the trail after a night's rest and hearty meal! These trails are maintained by volunteers and keen walkers through France will already be familiar with the routes' markings, called 'balises', to keep you in the right direction. BSE and French farmers in The CevennesWhile the BSE ban on British beef for export seems far removed from the beef farmers round Mont Lozere, the crisis has begun to impact on their businesses. The effect of the bad publicity for eating beef in general was not felt until early autumn 1996 when most sell their beef. Orders were down and Jacky from Prat Souteran, who has cultivated a niche in the market for 'organic' premier quality beef, says he did not notice a significant drop in prices. However, the French government has acknowledged the damage it has caused and are giving hardship loans to farmers who have been unable to sell enough to keep 'afloat' without help. The "Programme BREL" and Soil Erosion in LozereThe slopes of Mont Lozere around Eagle's Nest are well known for their ecosystems including peat bogs, forests and meadows. The river basins of Mont Lozere have been studied since 1980 as part of French research called "Le Programme BREL" (standing for Bassins de Recherche et d'Experimentation du Mont Lozere - basically the study of the river basins and the Biochemistry, Runoff, Erosion and Land use processes going on there). The programme brings together academics from different universities to look at the ecology of the area by measuring the mineral content of the soil and rivers and the features of soil erosion. These studies are developed to investigate the effects of pollution and forestry practices and farming on the ecosystems. One of the projects is outlined below and gives an example of the effects of forestry on soil erosion. Between July 88 and July 89 the Laboratory of Physical Geography of Meudon, France carried out research into soil erosion rates on Mont Lozere by studying a cleared area that had been a 60 year old Spruce forest felled to stop a tree disease. The area studied had a history of land uses leading to soil erosion with gullies and alluvial fans appearing at different levels on the grazed slopes. However, at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century reforestation had taken place stabilising these gullies that are now covered in vegetation. It was found that, just one and a half years after clearing of the forest, new gullies appeared (often along side the paleogullies which did not develop any more). They were also found to develop where the tractor tyres had left ruts or from logs that had been dragged out of the forest. The gullies developed differently during the different seasons. During the warmer periods rainwash was the main process generally cutting the gully down except for the occasional wall slide. In the colder months frost weathering filled the gully up with material, which was washed out when the warmer season returned. By measuring the development of the alluvial fans it is able to measure the extent to which soil erosion is taking place. This soil was not taken out of the catchment area as it stayed in the alluvial fans that occupied natural hollows or were located in artificial traps such as forest lanes. The rate of soil erosion amounted to 6.6 t/ha. By examining the strategraphic record of the peat bogs it was found that most of the suspended load was trapped here and seems to have been for many centuries as alternate organic and mineral layers testify to the bog being a sediment trap during periods of heavy land use. Ref:"Forest Harvesting Geomorphic Effects in a Submediterranean Granitic Middle Mountain - Mont Lozere, South of the Massif Central, France. First Results." By Ph.Allee, B.Valadas, Cl.Cosandey, T.Muxart, A.Godard of the Laboratoire de Geographie Physique CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) Meudon France. First published September 1989. Improvements for the 1997 seasonWhilst the snow drifts pile up to surround the Nest and minus 5 temperatures outside, Jon and Fiona build on inside to convert the upstairs common room into the third classroom to swap with the downstairs classroom. As well as a new cosy common room this will make room for a separate tea/coffee area for teachers upstairs. Outside last summer Simon continued the landscaping improvements, with a fetching 'ranch' style balustrade to the front of the centre from which to admire the view down the valley. Discover Ltd.
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