The biodiversity that makes up the direct environment of the monuments today resonates with the exceptional painted decorations of the Palais des Papes, considered true masterpieces of medieval pictorial art.
Birds, insects, plants are all pictorial resources with a scientific vocation in the 14th century and today echo a living and fragile biodiversity.
La League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) PACA, Endowment Fund Palais des Papes and Pont d’Avignon et Avignon Tourism have formalized a partnership on 5 years through a framework agreement which will be broken down into an annual project and financing agreement.
This agreement aims to define the respective objectives and commitments of the stakeholders for the implementation of these actions. It is broken down into a detailed annual action program which is reviewed each year.
The program “Palace of the Popes, Pont d’Avignon and Biodiversity” is structured around three areas of intervention:
➞ Improve naturalist knowledge and assess the issues
- Action 1: Carry out a naturalistic diagnosis
- Action 2: Carry out naturalistic monitoring of areas and species with high stakes
- Action 3: Carry out the assessment
➞ Inform, raise awareness, educate and train all types of public
- Action 4: Inform and raise awareness among visitors = signage, close links between the decorations of the painted rooms and the natural species present today (birds, plants, insects, etc.)
- Action 5: Train Avignon Tourism agents = themed guided tours, children's workshops, etc.
- Action 6: Create a major event = 1 national conference with the LPO and the City in resonance with the City's programming
➞ Mobilize to better preserve biodiversity
- Action 7: Lead and relay participatory surveys
- Action 8: Arouse the interest of scientific communities internationally
The Palais des Papes is home to unique biodiversity
Initial naturalist observations compiled from the participatory database managed by the LPO PACA (French Agricultural Organisation for the Protection of Birds) allow us to identify initial issues such as the nesting of the kestrel within the grounds of the Palais des Papes. Around twenty bird species have already been identified, the status of which in terms of their use of the gardens remains to be determined. Local plants, particularly climbing plants, are indeed favorable for shelter, refuge, and feeding for various species. The spontaneous vegetation in certain areas, as well as the choice of local Mediterranean plantations, should be considered in relation to the processions of butterflies and other local pollinators.
The biodiversity that makes up the direct environment of the monuments resonates today with the exceptional painted decorations of the Palais des Papes, considered true masterpieces of medieval pictorial art. Birds, insects, and plants are all pictorial resources with a scientific vocation in the 14th century and today echo a living and fragile biodiversity. The objective over the coming years is to create a dialogue between the artistic, pictorial, and documentary resources of the Middle Ages and the direct natural environment that we know today. Are the species the same? How did they evolve? Were the artists inspired by what they saw or what they imagined? These studies should allow all audiences—adults, children, amateurs, and scientists—to understand the monument today through the prism of this precious living nature.
