In September 2021, the Conservatoire d’espaces naturels de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the Bouches-du-Rhône Chamber of Agriculture, the La Barben Zoological Park and the Besançon Museum received approval from the European Commission to launch the LIFE SOS Crau Grasshopper project.
This four-year project (2021-2025) aims to save the Crau Plain Grasshopper, a critically endangered species endemic to the Crau plain.
Accouplement de Criquet de Crau © Irène Nzakou - CEN PACA
The LIFE programme (Financial Instrument for the Environment) is one of the European Commission’s main financial tools to support projects in the fields of environment and climate. It is open to public and private applicants and aims to promote and finance innovative projects in areas such as species and habitat conservation, soil protection, air and water quality improvement, waste management and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The species is classified as “critically endangered” on all red lists: global, European, national and regional. Since January 2007, it is protected in France. The actions of the LIFE SOS Crau Crau Grasshopper are focused on four major objectives:
The Crau Plain Grasshopper is a so-called “umbrella” species. The preservation of this very rare and threatened species means protecting its natural habitat and all the species associated with this habitat.
Public involvement
Various audiences will be involved on a local, regional, national and international scale: the general public, schoolchildren, farmers and shepherds, naturalists and experts, local politicians and landowners.
Managing the Crau Plain Grasshopper habitat, which is one of the LIFE project’s main objectives, partly involves improving the living and working conditions of the Crau’s shepherds, as the presence of the latter on site ...
On Sunday May 18, the LIFE SOS Crau Cricket project was represented at “Natur’en Fête”, an outdoor family event organized by the municipality of Miramas around the theme of sustainable development.
On Thursday 20 March, Delphine Lenôtre, Conservatoire d’espaces naturels de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur nature animator and guard, welcomed a group of 27 children from the Lion d’Or school to the Ecomusée de la Crau for ...