Schoolchildren discover life in a chestnut grove
During their leisure activities, the village children benefit from territorial educational projects, including the discovery of a chestnut grove.
Territorial educational projects (PEDT) formalize an approach allowing voluntary local authorities to offer each schoolchild a coherent and high-quality educational path before, during, and after school. In Le Lavandou, this approach is closely followed by Gil Bernardi, the mayor, and his deputies Charlotte Bouvard and Frédérique Cervantes, elected officials for the environment, childhood, and schooling. Recently, they highlighted the children's participation in the chestnut grove, during the spring and autumn seasons and up to the harvesting and tasting of the chestnuts.
FIRE PREVENTION This educational project was made possible thanks to a recent acquisition by the Ville, in the massif des Maures, of a 17-hectare plot of sensitive natural areas for an amount of €210,000. This forest area was primarily used for fire prevention and completed the some 110 hectares of forest plots belonging to the municipality. Indeed, within the framework of the Défense Extérieure Contre l'Incendie (DECI), the first action of the Ville initially focused on brush clearing.
Then, several operations were regularly carried out.
As Gil Bernardi explained: "When this chestnut grove was cultivated, the maintenance of the undergrowth was regular, thus ensuring a barrier against fire. Once the site was cleared of brush, we commissioned a specialized company to care for the chestnut trees in order to share this local culture with the children." No sooner said than done!
Thus, the little Lavandourains, who are enrolled in leisure activities during school holidays and on Wednesdays, headed to the chestnut grove. Then, the mayor detailed the municipal approach: "The children benefited from on-site explanations telling the specifics of the chestnut tree, its flowers, its beekeeping vocation and, of course, the children were able to gather fruit." Upon returning from this country outing, the harvest was handed over to the central kitchen teams.
The chestnuts were roasted in the primary school yard in the presence of the deputy for Youth, teams from the service Jeunesse et Sports, and the Caisse des écoles. "The diversity of the protagonists and pedagogical situations multiplies the development of the participants who, in this way, can acquire different knowledge, know-how, and life skills," added the mayor.
From now on, this chestnut grove is part of the history of Le Lavandou. It will be preserved for future generations.
Finally, the children will soon be invited to participate in the second stage of this reclamation by planting new chestnut trees.
