The Alpine Climate Board found two caretakers for the biodiversity implementation pathways in Tarik Yaïche (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Development and Housing Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – DREAL AuRA) and Jérôme Duvernoy (Ministry for the ecological transition). Each has a role at a different level in the biodiversity field. Join them for a short virtual talk to learn about their activities and visions for biodiversity.
Jérôme: Hello Tarik! If I am right, you work at the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Development and Housing in Lyon (France). You are the project manager of the Water-Air-Soil strategy and Alpine Policy Officer. What part of your activities concern the biodiversity topic?
Tarik: Yes Jérôme, you are right. I have been working at the DREAL Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2014. My biodiversity related activities at the DREAL started when I was working for the Environmental Authority. Now I coordinate a large environmental policy aimed at preserving natural resources.
And you, Jérôme, like me, are also part of the Ministry for the ecological transition, but you work at the head office. How does your job relate to biodiversity?
Jérôme: Yes, exactly. I am based in La Défense, a business centre close to Paris, where the head office of our ministry is situated. More precisely, I joined the National Observatory on the Effects of Climate Change (ONERC), which is in charge of French adaptation policy, in 2012. In my portfolio, I have topics including biodiversity. For instance, ONERC publishes a thematic report on a regular basis and in 2019, this report focused on climate adaptation through nature-based solutions.
Tarik: Thanks Jérôme! In AuRA, financed by the DREAL and the Region, the Regional Biodiversity Observatory’s missions are carried out by the coordinators of the thematic areas[1] with the technical support of the French Office of Biodiversity. This Observatory is an opportunity to gather, disseminate, and promote data and initiatives related to knowledge on biodiversity in the region. This work is also useful for the development of protected areas on which the territories of the region are mobilised.
Jérôme: The protection of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems is an important subject in France. The Alpine Convention and its Climate Action Plan are an asset for enabling the implementation of actions on an international scale in the Alpine region.
[1] National Alpine and Massif Central Botanical Conservatories, Flavia APE association, League for the Protection of Birds and Regional Federation of Hunters