No.70: The Oak and the Reed

(Free adaptation of La Fontaine's fable - all lines in 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 are from the original version)

The oak once said to the reed: "You have good reason to blame Nature; a wren is a heavy burden for you. The slightest wind that happens to wrinkle the face of the water forces you to bow your head. - The wind hardly intimidates me, the shrub replied; - 𝗝'𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲́𝗰𝗶𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗶 𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁. And this nature that you insist on accusing flourishes in my neighbourhood.

As he said these words, the soft, steady song of the reed whipwort (𝘇𝗿𝘇𝗿𝘇𝗿𝘇𝗿𝘇𝗿𝘇....) gave rhythm to a strange orchestra in which trained ears will recognise the notes (𝘁𝗷𝘂 𝘁𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗶 𝘁𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗷𝘂) of the Reed Bunting and the rapid succession of dry calls of the Common Moorhen. It is said that the oak tree even heard the Ringneck Snake and the Tench clapping (𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗽 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗽).

Looking for the little beast, the oak insists. - While your hollow, tightly packed stems erect themselves into a 3 metre high wall, 𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥'𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦̂𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘭, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭'𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦̂𝘵𝘦. The human attracted by the melodious sounds of the orchestra heard as the only notes the critical retort of the oak. 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮̂𝘁𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗲́𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲́𝗲.

𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯. The dreaded wind, the same one that had scattered the melody attracting the human had also taken care of the reed's seed. 𝗟𝗮 𝗹𝗲́𝗴𝗲̀𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗲́𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲́𝗲 𝗮̀ 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗮̀, 𝗲𝘂 𝗯𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼̂𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱'𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲́𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿.

Not content with providing food, shelter and breeding sites for wildlife, 𝗷'𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗿𝗲 𝗲́𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗲́𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲́𝗺𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗮̀ 𝗹'𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻. Let them send me their waste and polluted water: my roots are home to micro-organisms hungry for organic matter, while I'm also capable of retaining phosphorus and nitrogen to release oxygenated water!

The human strained his ear. And under the astonished eyes of the oak 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮̀ 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲́𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲̀𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝘂 𝗟𝗲́𝗺𝗮𝗻 : Pointe à la bise, Plage des Eaux-Vives, Chens-sur-Léman, Delta de la Dranse (FR), les Crénées, îles aux oiseaux de Préverenges, Grangettes (VD) - to name but a few.

𝙄𝙘𝙞, 𝙨𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙍𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙪 𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩, (...) 𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙪 𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨. The pressure has eased, and the reed can now gently raise its head. 𝘓𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 is now long gone, leaving behind reedbeds (and oak) that are still firmly rooted. It's certainly time to build on that.

Photo Credit: Roselière, Morges, Kai Taimsalu, Reed Bunting, Alexis Pochelon

Information taken from theThe state of reedbeds in Genevathe Lake Geneva region n°104, And so it pushes on towards new shores and the International Commission for the Protection of the Waters of Lake Geneva - CIPEL