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The Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), the Greater Avignon Agglomeration Community and Eau Grand Avignon, are creating a Mediterranean tree plantation on the site of the Saignonne drinking water production plant in Avignon. A total of 750 pine trees will be planted in 2022 and 2023 on 1.3 hectares. The objective is to host a conservatory of trees of interest to international forestry research, while ensuring compatibility with the activities of the host site.

The site of the Saignonne in Avignon is one of the 6 catchments supplying the territory of the Grand Avignon with drinking water. The water distributed to the houses is taken from the water table by means of wells which form a catchment field. The Saignonne well serves the communes of Avignon, Morières lès Avignon and part of Rognonas. It is managed, on behalf of Greater Avignon, by the company Eau Grand Avignon, which operates the drinking water service in 8 municipalities of the Agglomeration (Avignon, Villeneuve lez Avignon, Les Angles, Morières-lès-Avignon, Jonquerettes, Pujaut, Roquemaure and Sauveterre)

In 2021, a reforestation of part of the area and its long-term management plan have been considered, and the hosting of the INRAE forest resources conservatory on this site has been studied, taking into account the location of drinking water production facilities.

CONSERVE, PRESERVE AND ENHANCE BIODIVERSITY

At the level of the scientific community, with the aim of preserving, sharing and enhancing genetic and heritage resources, a "RARe" (Ressources Agronomiques pour la Recherche) infrastructure was created in 2015. It offers to research actors and their partners, animal, plant, microbial resources... controlled and conserved in these conservatories.

One of the pillars is dedicated to forest trees. INRAE Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and its laboratory Ecology of Mediterranean Forests in Avignon contribute to this for species specific to the Mediterranean region (cypress, pine, cedar, fir, etc.). In this context, INRAE and its partners in the RARe network are looking for sites that are suitable for hosting conservatories.

THE SAIGNONNE MEDITERRANEAN PINE GENETIC CONSERVATORY: A COMMON AND SHARED OPPORTUNITY

The installation of a genetic conservatory of a collection of Mediterranean pines on the perimeter of the Saignonne presents interests for the catchment area:

• the protection of the soil and the perennial and natural occupation
• filtration of possible pollutants or excess nitrogen
• contribution to carbon fixation
• Floristic coherence: the perimeter of the Saignonne is, on a small part, already planted with Aleppo pines

For the research, the main advantages linked to the installation of this collection on the perimeter of the "Saignonne" concern

• the installation and the preservation of the biodiversity of forest resources. This plant material has been selected among progenies resulting from controlled pollinations, within and between species of interest.
• the suitability of the site's soils to the ecological needs of the selected pines and the securing of the site.

Once the plantations have been realized by INRAE and the Green Spaces service of Grand Avignon, Eau Grand Avignon takes in charge the maintenance of this new space with the help of Châtaignier, an Adapted Company (EA) based in Robion (Vaucluse) which accompanies disabled people in their integration in the professional environment, for the maintenance of the soil and the grassing of the site.