I know unsettling environmental news doesn’t stop just because of Christmas. But I came across a brief, encouraging story from Brittany, in France, involving an environmental organization and a quarry operators’ association that I thought I’d pass along.
It seems Unicem* Bretagne, the quarry operators’ association, had been looking to improve its public image and, a few years ago, contacted Bretagne Vivante, the environmentalists, to talk about how their operations might better respect the environment. Notwithstanding they were digging large holes in the ground, they were interested in moderating the impact. Bretagne Vivante, notwithstanding its opposition to many of the quarries, was willing to talk.
Apparently, the conversations have been fruitful. For example, quarrying has been suspended in areas where certain rare types of birds nest. (The article didn’t say, though, if the birds came back the following year and found their nesting areas gone.) More recently, the two organizations signed a formal agreement detailing the terms of their working relationship. Among other things, operators have now agreed to open quarries to Bretagne Vivante inspection and to provide the organization with information they’ve been collecting for many years on plant and animal life in the quarry areas.
In a country known, unfairly or not, for ideological confrontations, this stands out as an example of remarkably pragmatic cooperation.
* "L'Union nationale des industries de carrières et de matériaux de construction."
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