Study the effects of climate change in the mountains
CREA Mont-Blanc, Centre de Recherches sur les Écosystèmes d’Altitude, is an environmental NGO based in Chamonix whose mission is to explore the impact of climate change on biodiversity and to share this knowledge with decision-makers and citizens. An expert in Alpine ecology, the association deploys a range of protocols in the massif to make it a benchmark site for measuring the planet’s evolution.
The world-famous Mont-Blanc massif, with its unique range of altitudes and mosaic of microclimates, is a powerful vector for understanding climate change. Global warming is affecting the major mountain ranges two to three times faster than the rest of the planet, and the impact is visible: retreating glaciers, falling rock faces, reduced snow cover. The upheavals for flora and fauna are less visible but just as profound.
Biodiversity in the mountains has been little studied, and it is now essential to understand these alpine environments under pressure in order to protect them more effectively (in particular, the monitoring of artico-alpine species, which are highly vulnerable to global warming and for which CREA Mont-Blanc is studying conservation).
Biodiversity is largely underestimated in terms of the contribution it makes to our societies. One of CREA Mont-Blanc’s missions is to bring science within the reach of society and to encourage people to take biodiversity into account through education and awareness-raising (its resource portal, the Mont-Blanc Atlas, field trips, conferences, publication of booklets, etc.).
Communicating and marvelling in order to act more effectively: CREA Mont-Blanc has put participatory science at the heart of its approach by involving the general public. The association is counting on active participation to help develop the link between humans and nature.
With Participatory Science in the Mountains, the association hopes to contribute to renewing the way we look at the mountains, both individually and collectively, as well as the place of nature in the construction of our identities and societies.