It's hard not to be enthusiastic about the beauty of the Vercors landscapes, and more particularly its Hauts Plateaux.
With its large mountain pine forest and its rich flora, the national nature reserve of this pre-Alpine massif stretched between Isère and Drôme is surprising.
However, there is a singularity that makes this site a unique place: it shelters... shrapnel.
A situation linked to its history.
The Hauts Plateaux du Vercors housed a military shooting range between 1954 and 2008.
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From this period there are still a lot of metal waste that hikers can find at the bend of a path.
A situation that the Nature Reserve wants to remedy.
It organizes a “shell hunt”, or more precisely a day of collective collection, on October 5 (with a potential date of postponement to October 14 in the event of unfavorable weather).
The volunteers, who had until September 26 to register, will undertake to clean up part of the site with the help of the guards of the reserve.
Any adult can participate.
Read alsoHiking: on the Hauts Plateaux du Vercors, three days of immersion in wild nature
A safe operation
Contrary to popular belief, the operation is safe, reassures Anne-Julie Parsy, herself a guard at the Hauts Plateaux du Vercors nature reserve.
“The idea is not to manipulate whole objects, but debris.
At the time of the range, the shells were loaded with plaster because it was for exercises.
Most of them exploded.
Today, we only focus on these cauliflower shells, that is to say already used, or fragments
, ”she explains to Le
Figaro
.
An exploded shell found in the Vercors regional natural park.
Vercors Park
If a volunteer finds a projectile that is still loaded or cannot identify it, they only have to take a picture of it and note the GPS coordinates.
A precaution all the more necessary as the Vercors, a veritable natural fortress, was one of the high places of the Resistance.
Some ammunition, such as grenades and other types of shells, may still litter the ground of the approximately 17,000 hectares of the site.
In this case, professionals come to take care of it.
Hikers can report debris
This is also why only 35 volunteers participate in the collection operation.
“We wanted to keep a certain closeness.
The group will be divided into three and each will be accompanied by at least one nature reserve guard.
It is a question of combing the widest possible ground, but also of ensuring the safety of all”
, explains Anne-Julie Parsy, who relies on
“the common sense of the participants”
.
In parallel with this "hunting", an inventory operation was launched.
On this occasion, the nature reserve has created a web application, on which walkers can report the debris they have found.
They can photograph them and give their geographical location.
In this way, they contribute to a better mapping of these different remains.
Beyond a purely security objective, the Hauts Plateaux du Vercors want to reach out to visitors and locals on issues related to the preservation of the site.
“These natural spaces are protected by strict regulations.
We want residents to take ownership of the site and help preserve it.
The shell collection operation is a way to achieve this
,” concludes Anne-Julie Parsy.
If the “hunt” is a success, new interventions will be organized.