For nearly 100 years the Sélune River in Normandy has had two dams installed on it – the Vezins and the La Roche Qui Boit.
And just a few weeks ago the first irreperable breach was made in the the Vezins dam kicking off the largest individual dam removal project in Europe ever. The lakes that were formed by the dams were unswimmable for humans and were turning into havens for toxic algae and cyanobacteria. The river itself was virtually lifeless and wasn’t distributing sediment further downstream which was choking the health of the entire river ecosystem.
This action is an attempt to bring life back to the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel where salmon, sea trout, brown trout, European eel, pike, sea lamprey and river lamprey might run again. And with them perhaps a return of native birds.
Roberto Epple, president of the European Rivers Network said
“The removal of the Vezins Dam signals a revolution in Europe’s attitude to its rivers: instead of building new dams, countries are rebuilding healthy rivers and bringing back biodiversity. Nature can recover remarkably quickly when dams are removed and I look forward to watching salmon swimming past Mont St Michel and spawning in the headwaters of the Sélune for the first time since my grandparents were young.”
It is estimated that over 3,500 barriers have been removed across Europe including the biggest dam removal in Spain last year and an ongoing historical river restoration project in Estonia that will remove 8 to10 dams and open up thousands of miles of river basin.
There are tens of thousands of old, obsolete dams in Europe that can and should be removed. Removing not only big dams like the Vezins but also by removing small barriers through local efforts these important life sources may be restored.
Primal Derma is bundled up with many other ancestral practices that have been dammed up. And in the damming a balance and a relationship is lost and toxicity emerged in that stagnancy. These dams coming down just as Primal Derma is emerging might be a little sign that the old ways are meant to be flowing again and in that flow a vivifying quality might emerge on your skin and in the land itself.
Thanks for letting this old pathway flowing by supporting us!
