Team:Toulouse/Project/project-context

One of Europe Wonders is without doubt the Toulouse’s Canal du Midi. Situated in the heart of our city and going through Southern France, our lab is only 5 minutes' walk from the Canal du Midi. Everyone in the team could enjoy the quietness and loveliness of this charming place. Unfortunately, this heritage is threatened: a phytopathogenic fugus, Certocystis platani, is devastating the trees lining the Canal.

The situation is alarming : today the only actual solution is preventive tree cutting to stem the fungal epidemic. The consequences are disastrous. Not only for the beauty of the landscapes but it has also huge environemental, social and economic costs. Today, 42.000 plane trees are threatened, knowing that cutting and planting a new resistant tree is about €4000.

The Canal du midi

This ingenious masterpiece respects the environment in which it is harmoniously integrated since 1681 by Pierre-Paul Riquet. Characterized as a summit level canal, it culminates at 189 meters of altitude and permits the achievement of water through the sea. In December 7th, 1996, the UNESCO registers Le Canal du Midi on the list of world’s legacy. The canal du midi is today primarily used for tourism, recreation and housing. Busier than the Seine (Paris), it accounts for one fifth of French river tourism and 80 % tourists are foreigners. Boaters seeking for tranquillity, quietness and a unique environment mainly navigate over it.

Canker Stain

The first plane trees bordering the channel appeared lately after its creation in 1776. Resolving the erosion of riverbanks and the evaporation of the water, the planesimposes itself has a dominant and emblematic marrow. The wooded legacy is estimated to about 42.000 trees, it contributes to the landscape and aesthetic. The canker stain is a disease caused by Ceratocystis platani, a microscopic fungus that exclusively attacks Plane Trees. Probably introduced in France by infected wooden munitions cases coming from United States of America in 1945, the fungus introduces itself inside the sain tree’s heart and blocks the sap flow and kills it in only 2 to 5 years. On the regulatory side, the July 31th 2000 modified ministerial order classes Ceratocystis as a harmful organism for plants. This order leads to a mandatory fight against the fungus. UN MOT SUR LES SOLUTIONS ACTUELLES platanor ?

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