Seven decades of action and commitment, driven by a thirst for understanding and the pressing need to reconcile humans and nature. Exploring and deciphering the links between living organisms, experimenting, testing out management methods, engaging in dialogue and sharing – that is what has driven us from the very beginning.
Starting as a basic biological field station in 1954, over the years the Tour du Valat has become a centre of scientific excellence, a benchmark for the management and restoration of wetlands, and a focal point for dialogue between stakeholders. Articulating the relationships between science and management and biodiversity and agriculture, it has become a pioneer in many fields: safeguarding endangered species such as the emblematic Greater Flamingo and the coveted European Eel; adaptive management and restoration of these extremely dynamic habitats; developing and facilitating mechanisms for dialogue between stakeholders and the interfaces between science and society; deploying Nature-based Solutions to respond to the challenges of rising sea levels and reconciling agriculture and biodiversity; exploring the new horizons opened up by health ecology…
Beyond the scientific and technical results, what moves me most and makes me optimistic for the future is the formidable community of dedicated individuals who are constantly forging links between disciplines and building bridges between the shores of the Mediterranean.
The catalyst for this collective action was the vision of one man, Luc Hoffmann. A vision carried forward today and adapted to meet new challenges by André Hoffmann and his sisters Vera and Maja, as well as by their children, supported by the high-level experts on the Foundation’s governing bodies.
Understand, Manage, Convey, Convince. These four verbs sum up how the Tour du Valat takes action. They form the basis of our reason to be, as well as the framework for our future actions.
Jean Jalbert, Director General at the Tour du Valat
Looking toward the future: the Tour du Valat in 2038
What better occasion than a birthday to think about the future?
In 2023, the Tour du Valat decided to start preparing for its 70th birthday by undertaking a 15-year forward looking analysis, sufficiently distant to allow a real opening up of possibilities, and sufficiently close to raise real decision-making issues. The aim was to provide it with a ‘compass’ to guide its most significant organisational and strategic choices.
The result of an intense collective process that mobilised all its staff and governance bodies, with support from the environmental strategy consultancy AScA, “Vision for 2038” places particular emphasis on two approaches that will form the core of the Tour du Valat’s intervention strategy in the years to come: influence, through the development and professionalisation of advocacy activities, and the development of a network of exemplary sites throughout the Mediterranean Basin that have a strong potential for demonstration and replication. Excellence in scientific research and wetlands management will remain the foundation of its activities.
Achieving this “Vision for 2038” will require greater involvement in Mediterranean countries, at the levels of governance where the main decisions affecting wetlands are taken. In organisational terms, it will also mean controlled growth in the Tour du Valat’s human and financial resources, to integrate new skills without losing those that have built its reputation and its social usefulness over the last 70 years.
Influence and impact: reaching out to new audiences
Wetlands advocacy will therefore occupy a prominent place in the various projects identified in our “Vision for 2038.” But what exactly does advocacy mean for the Tour du Valat?
In line with the four verbs that define our actions – Understand, Manage, Convey, Convince – and based on the scientific knowledge acquired over the years, our advocacy will focus son getting our messages across more effectively to decision-makers to call on them to act in favour of Mediterranean wetlands (convincing them). This has always been the Institute’s mission, but at the dawn of the next fifteen years, the Tour du Valat wishes to focus its efforts on the question of conviction: making public and private decision-makers aware of the importance of wetlands, and of protecting and preserving them as key elements in climate resilience, in conjunction with biodiversity. This work will involve interacting with public stakeholders based on key recommendations to encourage them to take action, as well as by a shift that the Tour du Valat wishes to make towards greater openness to new audiences.
To have a greater impact, the Tour du Valat will expand its programme of events at the Tour du Valat and at its Petit Saint-Jean agroecology farm. The Foundation will also organise its operations so that it can work closely with companies – which share our values and missions – as well as speakers on wetlands and their issues in regional, national, and Mediterranean political and economic circles. Finally, our agricultural products, such as our wines, which are the fruit of our agroecological expertise, our ongoing research, and our belief that agricultural production and nature protection can coexist, will be even better promoted so that our customers also become fervent lovers and defenders of wetlands!
In short, a second youth, multiple “new” ways of promoting, sharing, and enjoying what lies at the heart of our activities: science, research, and knowledge about Mediterranean wetlands so we can protect and preserve them.