HELP US SAVE THE ATLANTIC COAST!

Maud Le Car • French Surf Champion

"I still remember the first time I arrived in Les Landes, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of this region between dunes and forests and above all, for us surfers, it was the ideal playground with world-class waves along miles of beach. A true surfing paradise in a unique natural setting. 

So naturally I moved here to pursue my career as a professional surfer and I fell in love with the region and its people (especially one of them ;)) and I owe a lot to this region, which welcomed me, helped me progress enormously in my career, enabled me to meet people without whom I wouldn't have developed so much, a place where I feel fulfilled and that I now call 'home'. 

As a professional surfer, ocean lover and resident of Les Landes I spend most of my time in the water here, sharing sessions in the waves of the Landes coast with my boyfriend, my dog and my friends between ocean and forest, and that's what makes me happy. When we surf it's a return to the essential, to the simplicity of life, to our deepest nature, we feel connected to the Ocean in harmony with nature, it's what makes us quickly and forever inhabited by this passion, this obsession that becomes a way of life, a state of mind, our link with the world. 

Personally, I owe everything I have in life to the Ocean. This fascinating, mysterious, powerful, magnificent and terrifying world has taught me resilience, humility, gratitude and respect, which is why I feel it is my duty to protect it and make a modest contribution to its preservation. 

RTE's electricity line project on our coastline is not just a threat to our surf spots, which are at serious risk of being altered or even disappearing because of the huge cables that will disturb the seabed by altering the sandbanks on which our waves are formed, but also a warning signal for our environment, our ecosystems and, above all, our health and that of our children. 

This ecocide envisages the installation of heavy 400,000 volt energy infrastructures across our dunes, our beaches, our ocean and under our feet, with continuous radiation, which will inevitably lead to disturbances in human health and the destruction of marine ecosystems that are so complex and fragile. This will lead to the disappearance or mutation of certain species, the destruction of the dunes that have protected the coastline for thousands of years and the deforestation of hectares of felled forest, a forest that emits oxygen and shelters flora and fauna, all of which are linked to the balance of life. 

All these changes will have disastrous consequences not only for marine biodiversity, which is essential to all forms of life on the planet, but also for human health. 

It is not true that we dominate nature, and as long as this myth persists it will keep us in a deadly illusion. The ocean teaches you that everything of real value in life cannot be owned, seen with the naked eye or bought. 

I am outraged that anyone would risk destroying Nature and endangering our health in the name of their profits and money! What happened to common sense and priorities? So there's no limit to the superfluous. It's madness to believe that our resources are unlimited and to act so irresponsibly.

I no longer want to accept the things I can't change. I'm changing the things I can no longer accept by expressing my firm opposition to the RTE line, which I hope will make sense to you too, because it's only together that we can change things. Our commitment to the environment is also a commitment to each other. A promise for future generations.  

As a community of local surfers, or surfers who come to enjoy the exceptional waves of Les Landes, I ask you also to take part in this resistance, which must be united. We must demand that the alternative route along the motorway be considered, a solution that would not compromise the health of our ecosystems and our inhabitants, or the quality of our natural environment and our waves.  

In a tsunami, no single drop of water feels responsible.

It is our responsibility to break out of our collective unconsciousness and restore Harmony between Man and Nature, because we are not totally powerless if we choose not to be."

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Joan Duru • Pro surfer - captain of the French surf team - 5th place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games 

"My only feeling about the RTE line is that I'm sad every day when I see our dune, our forest and we don't even know what's going to happen in the ocean with this high voltage line that's going to destroy everything in its path, plus there will be a risk to our health with a 400,000 volt direct current when there was a safe route along the motorway that costs less too!"

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Hervé Baranx • Waterman & photographer

"I'm lucky enough to have grown up in Capbreton, as my father was one of the last children born here. 

This village, and now this town, is a family story, and has played a big part in my life choices. The good fortune of having grown up by the ocean and pine forests is a deep connection with nature. 

I can see what it can bring in terms of well-being and fulfilment. 

Swimming, surfing, sailing, walking, contemplating, photographing, sharing and protecting are all part of my life.

We live in a jewel and a lot of people underestimate these unique places! 

So why are these institutions, on the pretext of making super-profits and wanting to develop electrical infrastructures to the max, inviting themselves, with the support of local councillors, to ransack and destroy our Landes? It's unbearable. 

We have to be guinea pigs for this project, which has never been done before.

I need electricity and to live with the times like everyone else. But not at any price.
Alternatives, via the motorway, are possible.

The Gouf of Capbreton is uncrossable, and this problem was known to everyone: local fishermen, scientists, but apparently not to those involved.

So, on the pretext of obtaining huge subsidies from Europe, they prefer to come and ransack and destroy a wild and unspoilt nature.

They've been drumming it into us since we were children, "let's protect the dunes and the forests". But in fact they're just giving lessons, smoke and mirrors, to ease their conscience.

I'm deeply attached to the land of my ancestors, and I want to leave and pass on to future generations landscapes that are worthy of the name."

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Together, let's say NO to the passage of RTE's very high voltage power line through our forests, our dunes, our villages and the ocean!

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Join us in signing this tribune to show your opposition to this project and to demand that the route be changed to one that is 100% inland along the A63 motorway!

THANK YOU!
Maud Le Car, Hervé Baranx & Joan Duru