“Étang de Berre: looking for a hidden lagoon” is a film you can view or download for free that celebrates the wide range of landscapes around the Étang de Berre.
It was produced by the Mediterranean Lagoons Transfer Unit, and made by the Océanides Association in the framework of a project developed by the Unit in 2014 that promotes lagoon landscapes. It received financial support from the PACA Region ERDF, the PACA DREAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Agriculture and Housing), and the Rhone-Mediterranean-Corsican Water Agency.
Revealing the lagoon-based identity of an area by reading its landscapes
In this 20-minute film, we follow Alain Freytet, a landscape consultant at the DREAL PACA, who seeks to unveil the identity of the Étang de Berre. Alain Freytet tells the story of this lagoon area he discovers as he walks around, meetings with local inhabitants, and the sketches he draws. His attentive gaze and unique perception of the landscape allow us to discover peaceful and stunningly beautiful places and patterns in nature.
This film is aimed at politicians and elected officials, natural site managers and land use planners, as well as for the general public. It presents the multiple facets of lagoon areas, which are real allies in the struggle to preserve biodiversity and could play a significant role in the new sustainable economy.
A DVD of the film will be packaged with a notebook of sketches drawn by Alain Freytet as the film was being shot. A limited edition of 200 copies will be distributed during the summer of 2015 to stakeholders working in and around the Étang de Berre and at national level.
This film is being distributed for free, and you can watch it on Internet or download it in HD (in French, see the opposite links).
In addition, the film is being proposed to the communities around the Étang de Berre and to wetlands managers to set up a screening calendar that can be included on the Lagoon Unit’s web site.
Océanides has also made a 6-minute educational film called LAG’UNE… Découverte ! (Discovering Lagoons), which presents Mediterranean lagoons to children. You will find information about it on the page to the right. If you are involved in the dissemination of educational projects and would like to help people discover these coastal wetlands, this film is for you!
Finally, an exhibition on lagoon landscapes in and around the Étang de Berre was organised by students from Aix-Marseille University and the Carpentras CFPPA (agricultural training centre for adults), which gave them the opportunity to study their surrounding environment in a way that was not only scientific, but also based on their real life experiences and feelings in the field.
Contact:
Nathalie Barré
Mediterranean Lagoons Transfer Unit PACA Region Project Leader
Tour du Valat
Tel: +33 (0)4 90 97 29 56 / E-mail
