In spring 2020, we’ve started the project to built a riparian buffer on the riverbed of the stream that flows down the Internationalist Commune campsite. Riparian Buffers are vegetated stripes that take place in between land and rivers. Besides the beauty they bring to the landscape, they have multiple ecological benefits as for example to protect the streams from pollution from the adjacent lands – and therefore increasing water quality -, to reduce erosion in stabilizing the stream bank or to provide habitat for wildlife.
The stream banks of this river are already vegetated in some areas, but are mostly empty of trees and shrubs on most of its length. Our project is to reforest progressively the riverbeds starting by the part down our campsite. For this, we’ve already prepared cuttings taken from native trees – mostly willows – that can be found growing next to the same river.