The life of Asa

Jean Emmanuel Roché

The Étangs et Marais des Salins de Camargue (EMSC) are the largest site acquired to date by the Conservatoire du littoral. Their history is recounted in eight scenes by a young flamingo narrating the words of his grandmother.

ARTICLE OVERWIEW

With rising sea levels, coastal management has become a global issue involving multiple stakeholders concerned with security, economics, landscape and biodiversity. The history of the Camargue Salt Ponds and Marshes site illustrates the diversity and complexity of these issues. It is told in eight scenes by a young flamingo recounting the words of his grandmother, who is doubly qualified to tell this story: She was born in 1977 and is almost the same age as the Conservatoire du littoral. She was ringed as a chick (code ASA) at Fangassier, a pond at the heart of the site’s conservation issues. Her proven sedentary lifestyle (monitored by the Tour du Valat) makes her the perfect mediator for this story. Her rare movements bear witness to the events that have taken place on the site over the past 48 years. The story is fictional only in that it is narrated by two birds. The facts, dates, figures and names reported by ASA’s anonymous grandson and ASA herself are drawn from rigorous scientific and journalistic research. The decision to tell the story through the eyes of a flamingo is intended to enhance its impact: By avoiding confrontational stances between stakeholders on a controversial issue, namely coastal erosion. By seeking to appeal to a wide audience with a dream bird. By conveying, through a young flamingo recounting his grandmother’s experience, the idea of passing on knowledge and conserving nature for future generations.
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BIOGRAPHY

Jean Emmanuel Roché is an ecologist, photographer, and author who is passionate about preserving natural environments, particularly wetlands and Mediterranean coastlines. An agricultural engineer (1978) and doctor of ecology (1986), he has devoted more than forty years of his career to observing, studying, and promoting these unique ecosystems. As a consultant specializing in wetlands, he has collaborated with many leading institutions such as the Tour du Valat, the National Museum of Natural History, the University of Burgundy, and the Camargue Regional Nature Park. At the same time, he has pursued a career as a journalist and photographer for Terre Sauvage (Bayard Presse) and published his images in GEO, Animan, La Croix, The New York Times, Sciences et Avenir, and Thalassa. The author of a rich and sensitive body of work, he has written or co-written numerous reference books, including Camargue entre ciel et eau (Privat, 1998), Salins de Camargue, territoires convoités (Actes Sud, 2009), and Flamants, entre nature et culture (Mediterraneus, 2024). Through his work, Jean Emmanuel Roché pays tribute to the Camargue, its key figures, and those who have shaped the history of coastal conservation, such as Luc Hoffmann and Alan Johnson, with whom he has worked throughout his career.