Today, I am going to talk about where I am from and what can be achieved when people (beautiful Breton people!) get together.
If you have visited my website before (www.pickardlanguagetutoring.com), I mention that I come from Brittany. And I don't give anymore details about it. I never had the intention of giving more details but today I am going to break the rules I set to myself. For the greater good and because as mentioned above, people can achieve so much when they talk, when they take time to listen and when they get together for a common goal: legacy!
So, most of you will have heard of Brittany, having visited cities such as St Malo, Dinard or Concarneau maybe, whilst on school trips or on holiday with family. Well, those are main tourist attractions that are well worth visiting. However, there are plenty more of little jewels to visit and Brittany is certainly full of wonderful places. The legendary Forêt de Brocéliande where King Arthur and its knights are celebrated, Carnac and its huge Menhirs (big tall standing rock). Finistère, West Brittany and Morbihan, South Brittany as well as the usual St Malo / Mont St Michel destinations.
And yet, Brittany is infamously known (at least for those who like myself grew up in Côtes d'Armor) for high river pollution, massive green algae infestations on beaches (also called "les marées vertes"/ "green tides") and an unfortunate reluctance from local as well as national authorities to admit it. This issue was even mentioned in international news a few years back following the deaths of several pets and people despite the warning signs and the constant fight from local green groups. And now, a courageous French investigative journalist, Inès Léraud, is being sued for having published her shocking findings in the form of a comic book.
However... And THAT is the beauty of what can be achieved once we get all around a table, talk things through and question what kind of legacy we want to be remembered for and what kind of legacy we want to leave to our children and the future generations.
A group of local Breton people living close the Breton river, Le Léguer, got together to see if anything could be done about another pollution problem that had plagued the area. And after a thirty years wait a wonderful and long awaited result came along. First, I am going to give you a little bit of context. The Léguer river meanders through 70 kilometers in the countryside of Côtes d'Armor. In the 1970s, Le léguer was starting to be known in Brittany as one of the most polluted rivers. It had about 50 mg of nitrate per litre of water fifty years ago according to France Info. And yet, in 2017, it obtained for the first time the certification label "rivière sauvage" showing how people and the authorities can work together to achieve a beautiful outcome. This certification label means that le Léguer is one of the wildest rivers. It is only obtained by 1% of all French rivers. So here is the film (in French, of course!) about how and who made it all become possible!
Et oui, La Vie est Belle dans la Vallée du Léguer... Allez-y!
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