what if beavers were the solution to storing water for the benefit of farmers?

AGRICULTURE – It is an animal species that has been driven out of French rivers… and from collective memory. A year after the events around the Sainte-Soline basins, the beaver and its dams, in a context of climate change, are nevertheless worth refreshing our minds.

Virtually exterminated in the 19th century, the beaver was very present in France before being massively hunted for its fur. Protected for a good fifty years, the beaver has regained its colors thanks to several reintroduction operations, and now numbers some 20,000 individuals in France, mainly in the Rhône and Loire basins.

It is difficult to list all the benefits that rodents bring to ecosystems but, to summarize, the National Society for the Protection of Nature (SNPN) emphasizes that the beaver promotes “the development of biodiversity in aquatic and wetlands” and helps to “flood regulation and water purification”. To the point that the animal is now celebrated on April 7 on the occasion of an international day which, in 2024, will be the starting point of a “Year of the Beaver” decreed by the SNPN and several associations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its reintroduction into the Loire.

The rodent also has a large community of fans among scientists and defenders of agroecology. Suzanne Husky is one of them. With a degree in agroecology, the Franco-American artist has put the beaver at the center of her work. “In North America, for certain indigenous peoples, agriculture and the beaver are linked, and there are many myths associated with the rodent, which shows its importance”she explains to the HuffPost.

“ 8 million years of experience »

In a continent where the existence of the beaver has not been affected by amnesia, “Hydrologists understood that it was possible to rely on a species that has 8 million years of experience”, continues Suzanne Husky. From there to imagine the use of beaver as an alternative to megabasins in France? This is the parallel made by the artist in several works, including the one you can see below:

Suzanne Husky, untitled, 2023. Watercolor on paper.

Compare a reservoir of more than 628,000 m³ of water – in the case of the Sainte-Soline basin – and the modest beaver dams seems a bit provocative. “It’s not that much!” »replies Rémi Luglia, president of the National Society for the Protection of Nature (SNPN) and fervent supporter of beavers. “This refers to the model we want: a productivist agricultural model in which we manage water by trying to pump it or store it, or a living system which relies on the ecosystem functions of nature. In this model, the beaver is part of the solution”explains to HuffPost the historian, who will soon publish the book Living as a beaver published by Quæ.

In concrete terms, beaver works raise the level of watercourses and fill the surrounding surface water tables with water. “We took measurements in the Sye valley (Drôme) a few months ago. The level of soil humidity over a kilometer of river was almost the equivalent of a first generation pond, with a single family of beavers.tells the HuffPost Hervé Coves, agricultural engineer and agroecology activist. Humidity in the soils including “surrounding crops will be able to benefit directly during the summer”, adds Rémi Luglia. This is exactly the need expressed by the farmers behind the megabasin projects, in a southwest quarter of France where the beaver has not yet made a comeback.

The recreation of wetlands also has a positive effect on biodiversity from which crops also benefit, adds the president of the SNPN. “Who says a gain in biodiversity means more predators for crop-destroying insects and more pollinators! » So many beneficial effects “less measurable than a tonnage of corn in a field”. A limit which partly explains why agricultural projects integrating the beaver factor still remain marginal or experimental.

Bad image and lack of political will

Above all, the beaver suffers from a bad image among a majority of farmers, for whom it is associated with damage to crops. In a context of agricultural crisis, are farmers ready to give space to the beaver? “At the moment less than ever”notes Hervé Coves. “It’s even fashionable among farmer representatives to make fun of agroecology, when there are plenty of things being done on the ground. »

However, solutions exist to limit conflicts of use, but they currently have no political support. The government set the tone a few months ago by discarding the most effective, to know “the establishment of a compensation system for damage caused by beavers”. A choice contrary to that made by many European countries.

Furthermore, the projects of “regeneration” waterways relying on beavers remain confidential in France, “ where artificialization is more important and where many industrial zones have been built on former wetlands”underlines Suzanne Husky, whose work is regularly exhibited throughout France (1) and who is also preparing a work with the philosopher Baptiste Morizot to be published in the fall by Actes Sud.

During the agricultural crisis, the executive also reiterated its unfailing support for mega-basin projects. “Wetlands have become national priorities, but we decide to monopolize water reserveslaments Hervé Coves. Where is nature in all this? »

(1) The deep time of rivers, until April 7 at the Drawing Lab in Paris (I), It was better after, until April 20 at the Alain Gutharc gallery in Paris (IIIe), Hi to you, collective exhibition until May 5 at the Transpalette art center in Bourges, Cosmomorphic practices, (re)generating living things, collective exhibition until July 28 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Villeurbanne (Rhône), Living in the forestwith June Balthazard at the Contemporaine de Nîmes from April 5 to June 23, Imaginary Worlds, collective exhibition from April 13 to December 15 at the Espace Monte-Cristo, Paris (20th), History of alliances with the Beaver peoplefrom June 15 to November 3 at Château de Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir)…

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