A French adventurer, Christophe Gruault, began Monday in Warsaw a journey aboard a 2,023 km rowing boat which will take him to Paris by taking the rivers of five countries from which he will take samples to assess their pollution levels, as part of a project carried out with scientists.
Mr. Gruault, 58, boarded a six-meter-long and 60-cm-wide canoe with the aim of arriving in Paris on June 18.
Its 2,023 km route will take it through Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France via 22 rivers.
“The goal of the game is to be able to show that what is beautiful is fragile and what is fragile, you have to be careful,” said Mr. Gruault to AFP.
The navigator intends to meet students throughout his journey and contribute to scientific research on the origin of the pollution of European rivers and the drought that threatens them.
“I will take environmental DNA samples that I will send to scientists,” said the adventurer.
This expedition is organized with the support of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, whose researchers will study the samples.
According to Denis Duclos, director of European, international and overseas relations at the Museum, the expedition will provide a better understanding of the state of the main European rivers.
“It will be interesting to take samples before and after the major cities of the route, so as to see if the cities have consequences on the treatment of pollution”, declared Mr. Duclos to AFP.
The adventurer, who intends to row a distance of 50 km per day, has committed himself to serious physical preparation.
The pollution of rivers and rivers in Poland was dramatically highlighted in July 2022, when almost 250 tonnes of dead fish were recovered from the surface of the Oder River on the border between Poland and Germany.
The Polish authorities blamed toxic algae, excluding the possibility of industrial pollution.
But the German authorities considered it to be an “environmental disaster of human origin”, the growth of the offending algae being favored by the introduction of salt into the water.
01/05/2023 21:16:55 – Warsaw (AFP) © 2023 AFP
