Hautes-Pyrénées: “Welcome to the mountain pastures” sends out a firm and welcoming message

“Welcome to the pasture”. The title of the communication operation is gladly welcoming. We are not on an authoritarian approach paved with bans. “The approach is neither authoritarian nor educational. Pastoral farming is part of the DNA of the Hautes-Pyrénées. The idea is to share our identity, this art of living represented by pastoralism, with the visitors, so that they have a great experience in the pastures. This is why Hautes-Pyrénées Tourisme Environnement has joined the process”, summarizes Isabelle Pélieu, director of HPTE.
“The idea is to launch a very brief message – there are five points – on what cannot be done in the mountain pastures and in the National Park. We’ve decided to approach this with a touch of humor, which means it doesn’t feel like a firm ban. We recall, in a somewhat humorous way, these rules of good practice, in order to prevent the risk of conflicts of use, which will make it possible to protect those who work in the massif”, underlines Jean Salomon, prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées.
Thierry Dumestre, president of the mountain pasture managers’ association, welcomes the work of all the mountain actors who have worked on this communication system. The association of mountain pasture managers is supported by HPTE and has received financial support from the state. The departmental sports office and the Pyrenees National Park are also partners in the operation, which is necessary, in particular, to better accommodate a new population arriving in the mountains.

Absence of mountain culture

Indeed, Thierry Dumestre indicates that after Covid “the number of usage conflicts has increased significantly. Because we have visitors who don’t have this culture, of transhumance, of the mountain”.
However, in the third pastoral department of France, where summer pastures cover almost all the high-altitude territories and valleys of the Haut-Pyrénéennes, the stakes are not neutral. The mountain pastures remain codified places that imply uses to be respected for the well-being of all: visitors, herds and shepherds.
Thus, the five messages transmitted, we recall, in a spirit of sharing from the Pyrenees, all begin with “Thank you”. Meaning: “Please keep your dogs on a leash! » ; “Thank you for respecting my home!” “, because “my cabin is not an Air BNB”, says the pastor with a wink; “Please keep your distance! why “we’re not in the mood” means cow, sheep and patou; “Please close the barriers! because “when the cow grazes at home, the Pyrenean ruminates”; “Thanks for bringing back your trash! » because « collection services don’t pass through us.. Through you, yes! “.
If the spirit of the campaign is sharing, information, prevention, the prefect essentially reminds that those to whom the message has been passed on and who have not taken it into account will be fined.