Resources for the Protection of natural forests: A big thank you!

Thanks to you, the Ulule crowdfunding campaign launched at the end of the year was able to raise over 7,000€, acting as a sort of early Christmas present providing the funds needed in order to purchase the lands of the ancient and wild Auvergne forests so that we might protect them.
The stakes of this project are high: not only are the ancient forests which it aims to protect areas of great biological diversity, they are also crucial for carbon storage. The valleys play a significant role in giving the landscape a unique character, with their twisted and dead trees inspiring a wealth of local myths and legends. These forests are still, for the time being, wild, but they are becoming threatened by ever-increasing exploitation. The aim of this campaign is, therefore, to secure ownership of the forest land in order that we might allow the environment to develop naturally and free from any economic pressures, which is the only way to guarantee sustainable conservation.
The project does, of course, come at a cost though, which is why the Auvergne Conservation Agency and Envol Vert have appealed to the public’s generosity in order to raise the necessary funding. Thanks to the support of numerous benefactors, over 124 people have got behind the campaign and we will be able to purchase 20ha in the Chavanhon and the Bas-Alagnon by the summer of 2014. A further 21ha are being negotiated across the 4 different sites which the project covers. Thank you for your financial and moral support, which is a daily help as we strive to preserve areas of not only natural biodiversity, but also of our mutual heritage.