Fireworks are probably THE star of the national holiday. However, this year, Tours has decided to cancel the trekking on the banks of the Loire. Why ? Because now, here, we prefer to defend biodiversity. Explanation.
If the city of Tours has decided to forgo these fireworks (which were to be set off this Wednesday, July 13), it is not out of aversion to fireworks, not even to save money. No, if she made this choice, it was to conserve common terns and little terns, two bird species that have been protected since 2009.
It must be said that this time of year is undoubtedly the worst time to set off an avalanche of lights and explosions on the banks of the Loire. Vincent Licheron is the director of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) Center Val de Loire. In the columns of Parisianhe explains :
“In 2019, we investigated fireworks fired within 400m of a settlement. During the twenty minute festivities, the parents fly away leaving their chicks at the mercy of predators or their eggs in full brood! (…) The town hall of Tours only applies the law protecting endangered species. †
Other locations were considered to shoot the fireworks, but were unsuccessful. In particular, the question: the presence this time of the gray heron.
The festivities are of course canceled and, the town hall promises, it will not definitively give up the fireworks:
“We have nothing against pyrotechnic displays. If another site allows it, we’ll be firing again! †
In anticipation of that day, here’s a measure of common sense.