Dordogne Valley Preservation

Out of Date :: The County Council of Dordogne is insisting on reviving a project increasingly contested over the past 30 years. This project to develop the Dordogne valley and the Bergerac-Souillac via Sarlat highway connection would bring heavy traffic within sight of the medieval fortress of Beynac while bypassing it. The cost of the bypass only is 35 million euros, to plant 2 concrete bridges in the Natura 2000 reserve, 3 roundabouts and a tunnel under the railway in a recurrently flooded area. To overcome opposition to this pharaonic project, the County Council has thus embarked upon a crusade to "save Beynac" from its few weeks traffic bottlenecks in summer holidays. New Perspectives :: This is without taking into account changes that have occurred in these past 30 years : - the Dordogne BIOSPHERE Reserve label awarded in 2012 - new environmental policies, both national and European - trends in touristic expectation tending towards unspoiled nat...

Ecological Corridors :: The first step of the planned work is to clear the river banks, i.e. to destroy riparian woodlands which are mainly composed of ash trees and willows. These very important ecological corridors between aquatic and land environments do ensure continuity between Natura 2000 sites. The road embankments would become permanent barriers blocking them. The new road would not integrate the landscape and the environment as much as the existing railroad. Ten small shuttles a day do not compare with a constant traffic flow, night and day, attracted from the highway. The implantation itself will be wider and, in the futur, will probably be fenced, as many mammals cross to reach the river. The second most important impact is the loss of rich agricultural lands, to be used to build the road... Impact on Water :: The water table in the flood plain is closely tied to the Dordogne River and local ground waters (replenishing and supplying processes). This alluvial aq...

A Busy Touristic Village :: In Beynac, traffic difficulties take place during the few busiest weeks of the summer holidays only. In 2015, the town council hired “ PCR Mesure & Analyse ” which recorded 9.500 vehicles per day in average, of which 70 trucks, during the one week in August which knows the highest traffic in the year. The County Council claiming an average of 12.000 vehicles a day of which 300 trucks, a new count was made under their own authority during the summer 2016. The results have never been released. Analysing Results ::  PCR Mesure & Analyse concluded that traffic is blocked during short periods of time because : - of the narrowness of the lanes in the curvy part of the road which doesn’t allow for trucks, buses or camper-vans to cross smoothly simultaneously - also between 4 pm and 7 pm, the flux of vehicles is continuous, inducing traffic jams like in any touristic destination. Road work to widen the lanes is in progress, coupled with...

A Remarkable Diversity :: With 39 referenced species, and among them18 targeted in national or international regulations, it is the very last refuge for all the “sea-river” migratory fishes, including European sturgeon ( Acipenser sturio ), allis shad ( Alosa alosa ), twaite shad ( Alosa agone ), eel ( Anguilla anguilla ), river lemprey ( Lampetra fluviatis ), marine lamprey ( Petromyson marinus ), Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ), and sea trout ( Salmo trutta trutta ). The Dordogne Bassin also has several habitats of Community interest (Habitats Directive and CORINE Classification), with floating water-plantain ( Luronium natans ), officinal gratiola ( Gratiola officinalis ), summer snowflake ( Leucojum aestivum ), pulicaria ( Pulicaria vulgaris ), and Roman squill ( Bellevalia romana ) to name just a few. Otters and Birds :: Evidence (pictures and faeces) demonstrates that there are otters ( lutra lutra ) downstream and upstream. Both otters’ populations have started to joi...

Man and Landscape :: From Montfort to Beynac , the Dordogne River offers its great majestic meanders, the most emblematic landscapes of the Valley,  shaped both by the River and Man. Human presence and activity for millennia have been attested by numeral archeological diggings, including the Stone Age ones made to check the feasibility of the bypass... The slopes and the upper terraces of the Valley come from the breakdown of cretaceous limestone, and in the Middle Ages, cliffs were inhabited, organised around troglodytic villages. Traces of ancient vineyards can be found, that were in activity from the Middle Ages until the Phylloxera crisis in the 19th century. The alluvial plain is used for agricultural activities: mixed crops, cereals and walnuts ( Juglans regia ). Human Activity :: The landscape patterns have not radically changed, except for the field crops (maize and wheat) with, in some places, market gardening  in open field (strawberry, asparagus, etc...

Destroying Potential :: Many trucks in transit through the county would prefer to use the projected express lane in place of the toll motorway A89. The noise generated by trucks and motor bikes riding at 90 km/h, instead of the 30 km/h  in Beynac will reverberate on the calcareous cliffs. The eagle owl, nesting right under the castle wouldn’t appreciate, and neither would the inhabitants or the visitors all around. Aquatic activities such as canoeing, bathing, boat trips, will be constantly covered by the traffic noise coming from both bridges. The project would ruin the harmonious balance between this magnificent scenery and human activities. It would gash a millenary landscape around Beynac , and deeply impact the view as large portions of the wooded river banks would be destroyed. The bypass road would be visible from most of the promontories and other sight-seeing , from the castles of Beynac , Marqueyssac , Castelnaud ,   Lacoste , Fayrac, and Les Milandes ,...

A County Council in debt :: Already in 1996 the “Ministère de la Fonction publique” expressed its doubts about the usefulness of the project. Twenty years and a 427,5 million euro debt later, the County Council compromise projects that would be more useful to citizens. Having difficulties to fund this project, the County Council has blocked or even cancelled many subsidies to small villages and communities.  It has stopped the completion of Sarlat bypass and threatened Beynac to cut all funding if the widening was completed before the bypass was in fonction. Desperate for money, it has requested a 6 million envelop from the “Aquitaine Region” for a cycling path along the bypass, when this amount would be enough to create a full network of cycling paths highly attractive to the tourists and beneficial to locals all year long. Dividing instead of rallying :: After the presidential election next month,  french people will vote for the members of the Assemblée Nationale (...

Why ?  :: Germinal Peiro , current representative of this area at the parliament, is also president of the County Council since April 2nd 2015. He has the upper hand on dispensing subsidies, to mayors and communities, which has been a strong leverage to subdue any opposition or criticism. While petition against the project reached 200 000 signatures, communities have been denied any right to discuss any aspect of this project, as Germinal Peiro also took the head of EPIDOR in June 2015 to insure total control over the situation. Beynac bypass was his father’s lifelong project, mayor of Vézac Ferdinand Peiro , and was contested from the start. Not identified as a priority by previous Councils, it had been in abeyance for 20 years. EPIDOR is a public structure whose mission is to “act in favour of water ressources durability” for the Dordogne Bassin. How? :: Such a project is not compatible with the goals and the management of the Dordogne Biosphere Reserve. As EPIDOR ...