Eric Garault

© Eric Garault

There’s one thing we tend to forget: humans might be responsible for the damage done to our environment, but they are also the ones standing up to defend it. All over the world, at a time of urgency when there has never been greater need, men and women are taking action to halt the damage being done to our planet. Morbihan is no exception. Farmers, beekeepers, livestock breeders, sailors, island wardens and forest rangers all keep watch over our natural habitat.

From the peaks overlooking Rochefort-en-Terre, one of France’s most beautiful villages, to the rocky beaches of La Trinité-sur-Mer, and from the island of Houat to the forest of Roc-Saint-André, éric Garault, a portrait photographer and reporter for the very select Pasco&Co agency, set out one summer to meet these people who are fighting to preserve the Morbihan area. The people who, each in their own way, are helping to maintain and protect the unique natural heritage of this part of Brittany. They are all different, yet all unconventional. Their diverse backgrounds command respect and admiration, and inspire others to follow them on their quest to save the Earth.

Whether their initiatives are revolutionary with global reach – such as sailor Yvan Bourgnon’s Sea Cleaners project, whose prototype boat seeks to clean up our oceans – or more local – like Sophie Pontgélard, who works with an association that takes tourists to landscapes with a rich
biodiversity –, all are part of a joint effort to make people more aware of the need to protect the environment. As governments around the world struggle to balance ecology with economics and take real action against the damage being done to our planet’s biosphere, every initiative counts. We may be in an era where short-termism prevails, but the Earth’s reactions have long-term repercussions. And while we must never forget that governments rather than individuals should be taking action to protect our living heritage, these sentinels’ initiatives are invaluable in raising awareness and trying out new methods, new ways of living and new ways of interacting with the world around us.

Photographic commission supported by the Morbihan Departmental Council.