impacts of climate change To make young people aware of the impacts of climate change on the island’s ecosystems:
that is the theme that Julien Chalifour, director of the scientific department at the Réserve Naturelle, developed for the students in the bilingual classes - French/English - at the Mont des Accords middle school, on December 9, 2015. This intervention took place in response to an invitation from the school, in conjunction with an exhibit about the environment organized by the students. When Chalifour spoke, an attentive audience learned about the responsibility of every individual to reduce his footprint in nature, or risk degrading the quality of life on one hand, and limiting the efficiency of our ecosystems’ services, or services provided by nature that we aren’t always aware of. Chalifour also told the students about the importance of the role played by the reefs, which protect the beaches and mangroves from large swells, and in turn the mangrove contributes to the purification of water that goes out to sea, and also serves as a nursery for young fish, which provide a future economic resources for fishermen.