The canal du Midi in about 5 minutes!
Learn all about the canal du Midi with Noahm.
You will learn about its history, how it works, the challenges it’s facing… all in about 5 minutes!
Providing shelter to the birds and bats of the canal du Midi in schools across the Occitanie region
At the end of 2020, Voies Navigables de France launched a campaign to distribute 430 bird and bat shelters to local communities, businesses, individuals and schools near the canal du Midi. It was an unprecedented opportunity to take part in the protection of biodiversity throughout the Occitanie region in an original way!
The flora and fauna inventories of the canal du Midi, managed by VNF during the development of the canal’s canopy restoration project, showed that the disappearance of its plane trees has led to the destruction of certain habitats of protected species.
In order to respect the biodiversity of the canal, VNF has drawn up an action plan to limit the impact of felling on the reproduction and hibernation of these protected species. The installation of animal shelters plays a central role in this plan. Since 2015, VNF has been launching campaigns to set up bird nesting boxes and bat shelters. To date, 900 shelters have already been set up along the canal du Midi and in its surroundings, with the aim of eventually setting up a total of 1,800.
As part of this project, educational events have enabled young people in schools near the canal du Midi to develop a better understanding of this exceptional ecosystem and learn about the challenges of protecting biodiversity. The children have been made aware of the need for new nesting boxes for species of birds and bats, since their natural habitats have been destroyed by the felling of canker stain-infected plane trees. We would like to say a big thank you to the EDF Group Foundation for all its support, Symbiosphere, Nouvelles Racines and the participating schools for their warm welcome.
EDF Group Regional Delegate for Occitanie
Educational kits to learn about the canal du Midi
Over the course of the year, the Voies Navigables de France patronage program has organized various communication and awareness-raising activities for the general public in order to better inform local residents and tourists, both French and foreign, of how the canker stain is progressing.
In this respect, VNF has partnered up with the MGEN group and Réseau Canopé to raise awareness among preschool and primary school students in the Occitanie region of the canal du Midi’s history as well as its future. Together, they help distribute educational kits aimed at raising children’s awareness of the need to preserve the region’s environment and heritage.
Each kit contains a supporting booklet that offers several sessions around two key issues: education about sustainable development and the discovery of a historical monument. 8 kits are available in the three departments of Occitanie that the canal runs through: 3 in Haute-Garonne, 2 in Aude and 3 in Hérault.
These kits include “Une aventure de Violette Mirgue: Le trésor du canal du Midi,” a playful and educational story book by Marie-Constance Mallard that recounts the adventures of Violette Mirgue, and a collaborative board game where the aim is to replant new tree species.
Through its "Let’s act in favor of inclusive territories" campaign, the EDF Group Foundation supports the preservation, adaptation and restoration of natural spaces as well as educational initiatives related to global warming. Coming up with solutions on a local scale to conserve and restore the biodiversity of the canal du Midi, while raising young people's awareness of its wealth, is exactly what we are all about. So, naturally, we have joined the patrons business club and support the program to protect this iconic part of our beautiful Occitanie region’s heritage.