A Papuan chef offers one of his ornaments to raise awareness about deforestation

A way for this traditional leader to draw the attention of Westerners to deforestation in Papua New Guinea, deforestation which promotes global warming. The town hall of Bourges is taking the opportunity to strengthen its environmental charter.

A gift that reminds us of our environmental responsibilities. Mundiya Kepanga has become the ambassador of primary forests: the surface equivalent of England disappears every year. The delivery of this adornment reminds us that, however, man is nothing without the forest : ” This adornment consists of a headpiece with Mundiya’s own hair ” describes Sébastien Minchin, curator of the museum of Bourges. ” The tunic features bird feathers, bits of bark, beads and even shells. Natural elements that remind us of our very strong link with the planet. This gift is therefore an important act for him since it is in a way a part of his person that he offers us. He wants to remind us that we are the brothers of the trees, that we are all on the same planet and that there will be no spare. I first met Mundiya in Rouen in 2012, then in 2015 at COP 21 to discuss the impact of global warming on indigenous peoples. ”

This exotic wood, often plundered in Papua New Guinea is consumed in particular in Europe and the primary forest gives way to crops for palm oil : ” Climate change is not linked to a single region ” explains Catherine Menguy, deputy mayor of Bourges. ” We all have a responsibility through our behavior. Trees are essential in the water and carbon cycle. We have forgotten it a little too much in our Western model, what we call progress, which consists of tapping into natural resources that we thought were unlimited when this is obviously not the case.

Bourges account 26,000 trees in its public domaintrees that also suffer here: ” Three years of drought, it is in our cities and in our forests, 30% more mortality in trees. For the moment, we do not yet have the solution. We only make experimental plantations to identify the most drought-resistant species. In Bourges, we are replanting magnolias in particular, but we have a problem: our subsoil is very chalky. “ Soon the city will launch a list of remarkable trees in private gardens, to better protect them.