busybee

There is an area between Carcassonne and Montpelier, M621 Plaines de Languedoc, on the map, but I don't know any more about it.

I have created a website in English giving lots of information about the issues surrounding Shale Gas exploration in France, including links to the petition and many informative and interesting articles. This is a serious issue that could dramatically change the environment in many areas of France and in my opinion, it is in danger of being rushed into without fully understanding the long term implications. The government of Quebec have just taken note of their environmental impact report into Shale Gas (which took 6 months to complete) and decided to call a halt to any further exploration until a more detailed report can be produced. There are too many unanswered questions. I hope that the French government will follow their lead and make sure that this is the right thing to do before allowing drilling to commence. Here in Midi Pyrenees the local government officials seem to all be against it, but I think a lot of protest is going to be needed to stop it happening. Do please get informed on this topic and make up your own minds.

This problem with chestnut trees is due to the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner Moth. (Cameraria ohridella) The larvae overwinter in the fallen leaves, and will hatch to start the cycle over again in late spring, when you will start to see brown spots appearing on the leaves. The advice to sweep up and burn all the leaves is therefore sound advice. I have noticed that where this occurs regularly the trees looked a lot healthier and kept their leaves until autumn, whereas the badly affected trees started losing their leaves in August. In some cases, they will grow new leaves and even start to blossom again in the autumn. I understand that this attack should not cause the trees to die, as the damage occurs late in the season. Therefore there is no reason to fell the trees. More information at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/INFD-68JJRC or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameraria_ohridella