Grassroots Conservation • Active Field Campaigns

Direct Field Actions Healing Regional Habitats

Our ecological field operations translate scientific research into physical reality on the ground. Through active community partnerships, we regenerate water catchments, reconnect forest corridors, and preserve wild genetic diversity across the Pyrenean Piedmont.

Empirical Habitat Restoration

A Living Portfolio of Public Interest Ecological Interventions

Every project undertaken by LA COMPAGNIE LA MAIN A LA PATE is 100% public interest, non-commercial, and co-designed with local rural communities. We select sites based on ecological vulnerability, potential for bio-corridor connectivity, and willingness of local stewards to enter into multi-year conservation covenants.

Project 01 • Hydrology & Riverine Health ACTIVE CAMPAIGN • CYCLE 2024–2027

Project Riparia: Volp Catchment Ecological Rehabilitation

The Volp river basin sustains essential wetlands and pastoral lands throughout the Ariège and Haute-Garonne borders. However, decades of agricultural runoff, stream canalization, and the removal of bankside brush have accelerated soil erosion and raised summer water temperatures to levels lethal to juvenile native brown trout (Salmo trutta).

Initiated in 2024, Project Riparia has mobilized over 340 citizen volunteers to replant 14 kilometers of continuous indigenous riparian buffers. By reintroducing multi-tiered vegetative strata—comprising black alder (Alnus glutinosa), purple willow (Salix purpurea), and common hazel (Corylus avellana)—we establish extensive root matrices that anchor fragile riverbanks against heavy autumn flash floods while filtering excess agricultural nitrates before they reach drinking water aquifers.

Volunteers standing along a pristine river basin during biological water testing

Figure 4.1: Field scientists and volunteer monitors testing dissolved oxygen and turbidity parameters along a newly reforested stretch of the Volp river near Sainte-Croix-Volvestre.

14.2 km

Continuous Vegetated Riverbank Restored

-3.8°C

Average Summer Stream Water Temperature Drop

2,800+

Indigenous Riparian Saplings Seeded

Project 02 • Agroecological Corridors ACTIVE CAMPAIGN • CYCLE 2025–2028

Le Bocage Vivant: Rebuilding Rural Micro-Habitats & Windbreaks

Traditional bocage landscapes—composed of hedgerows, earthen banks, and ditch systems—are among the most biodiverse anthropogenic habitats in Europe. During the post-war land consolidation drives (remembrement), millions of linear kilometers of hedgerows were systematically bulldozed, exposing topsoil to catastrophic wind erosion and depriving pollinating insects of vital forage.

Through our Bocage Vivant campaign, our teams partner directly with organic family farmers and pastoralists around Alzen to replant heritage mixed hedgerows. We employ traditional layered hedging techniques (plessage) that intertwine living branches into dense, impenetrable natural fences. These structures harbor rich communities of beneficial predatory insects, reducing the need for chemical pest interventions while providing nesting corridors for endangered birds like the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio).

Panoramic view of restored traditional agricultural hedges framing pastoral grasslands

Figure 4.2: A newly planted five-layer bocage hedge near Alzen connecting two isolated oak woods, creating an unobstructed biological passage for woodland mammals and amphibians.

18.5 km

Ancient Agricultural Hedgerows Re-established

Songbird Species Documented in Restored Zones

Partner Family Farms Participating

Project 03 • Botanical Conservation ONGOING PERMANENT PROGRAM

The Pyrenean Wild Seed Repository & Community Nursery

Commercial tree and shrub nurseries frequently propagate cloned specimens from distant geographical origins, resulting in plants ill-equipped to withstand the intense droughts and erratic frost regimes brought on by climate disruption.

In response, LA COMPAGNIE LA MAIN A LA PATE established an autonomous non-profit community seed sanctuary and propagation nursery in Alzen. Our volunteer botanical crews conduct ethical wild harvesting across old-growth forests, gathering seeds from relic mother trees of sessile oak (Quercus petraea), wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis), and spiny medlar (Mespilus germanica). In our community cold frames, volunteers stratify, germinate, and nurture thousands of hardy seedlings ready for distribution to community restoration zones.

Botanical seed sorting trays and germplasm documentation at the association nursery

Figure 4.3: Volunteer seed cleaners sorting hand-harvested native woodland berries and recording mother tree GPS coordinates into our open-access botanical database.

Project 04 • Participatory Arts & Ecology SUMMER & AUTUMN TOURS 2026

The Living Earth Caravan: Puppetry & Street Theater in Rural Ariège

Cultural isolation is an acute reality in small rural hamlets where theater venues and art centers are absent. Our traveling artistic troupe brings accessible, multidisciplinary artistic creations directly into public spaces, village squares, schools, and social centers.

Combining oversized animal puppetry, physical comedy, live acoustic music, and participatory storytelling, our performances break down cultural barriers, foster creative expression among participants of all ages, and create an inclusive environment where artistic education and creative performance intersect. Each performance is accompanied by interactive workshops where children and adults sculpt clay puppets and discuss local watershed conservation.

Community children engaged in an open-air theater workshop with puppets

Figure 4.4: The Living Earth Caravan staging an interactive puppetry performance on pollinator preservation in the municipal square of Alzen.

Get Involved in Our Active Field Campaigns

Our projects thrive because of dedicated citizens who contribute their labor, knowledge, and passion. No prior scientific experience is needed—we provide full training and field equipment.

Join a Field Team → Contact Secretariat