The agglomeration forum is the forum for consultation of cross-border civil society in the Greater Geneva area. It is a key player in the construction of the France-Vaud-Geneva conurbation and the social, cultural and geographical cohesion of its territories.
The agglomeration forum is the forum for consultation of cross-border civil society in the Greater Geneva area. It is a key player in the construction of the France-Vaud-Geneva conurbation and the social, cultural and geographical cohesion of its territories.
The Commission de la Pêche is a consultative body that works as a group of experts to help and advise the Département du territoire and in particular the Service du Lac, de la Renaturation des cours d'eau et de la Pêche (SLRP) on the management of fishing in Geneva.
Members are elected by the Council of State.
The Commission's task is to give its opinion, in an advisory capacity, on technical issues concerning the roadstead and port facilities in Geneva waters. In the case of building permits processed under the fast-track procedure, with certain exceptions, the Commission's opinion is expressed, by delegation, by the specialist department concerned. If necessary, exceptions are defined by the aforementioned committee.
In addition, the committee may, in particular, put forward any suggestions relating to desirable improvements and port maintenance, taking into account the wishes of the population of the groups represented.
The members are elected by the Council of State on the basis of a dossier.
The biological diversity of the canton of Geneva and the quality of its landscapes are remarkable. But the expansion of the conurbation in recent decades and the pressure it has exerted on many natural resources (flora and fauna) and landscapes have led to a significant decline in many of them.
Faced with the challenge of conserving Geneva's biodiversity, a number of organisations active at cantonal level have come together to form the "Plateforme Nature et Paysage Genève" (PNPGE).
To give concrete expression to its demands in the field of nature and the landscape, and in particular to highlight 21 priority measures for the coming years, the PNPGE has drawn up a Manifesto, a document which appeals to Geneva's elected representatives and which should also serve to strengthen the links between all those involved in the ecological transition.
The ASL met with the St-Sulpice municipal authorities in March to discuss the Port du Laviau project. As part of the renaturation of the Venoge, the 90-berth harbour currently located there is to be relocated. As it happens, the chosen replacement site is located in an area that is still natural and is home to several species of great ecological interest, notably the sub-lacustrine seagrass beds. In addition, the project plans to accommodate more than 250 boats, i.e. 160 more than the current harbour can accommodate. The ASL therefore asked the local authority for further details and expressed its concerns about the potential impact of such a structure on this natural area. No news has been received since this meeting, but the ASL is keeping a close eye on the situation.
In April 2022, the ASL was heard by the Environment Committee of the Grand Council of the Canton of Geneva on the draft law on waste. The ASL mainly supported the proposed articles 16 and 17, which aim to reduce plastic pollution by banning the availability of single-use plastics (bags, food packaging, takeaway food and drink containers, etc.), which we find in large quantities when cleaning up in and on the banks of aquatic environments.
Indeed, the ASL has been supporting alternatives to disposable containers for many years and had already met with GESDEC in 2017 to promote reusable containers in takeaway catering, such as the ReCircle system already in place in many community and takeaway restaurants
More info on https://www.recircle.ch/fr/
Given the uncertain electricity supply situation during the winter of 2022-2023, and the proverbial "better safe than sorry", a letter has been sent to the Prefect of Haute-Savoie, asking him about the measures to be put in place in the event of power cuts, particularly with regard to water purification systems and the potential impact of a malfunction on the waters of the lake and its tributaries.
Read the letter sent to the Prefect of Haute-Savoie
During the 2022 edition of Net'Léman, the major clean-up of the lake organised by the ASL, divers from the Mora Mora club discovered two new types of waste on the seabed bordering the quay at Cologny (GE) that are causing concern to the ASL. They are disposable electronic cigarettes and cylinders of nitrous oxide used as laughing gas. The ASL has reported their presence to the geology, soil and waste service of the canton of Geneva (GESDEC) so that it can assess the potential impact of these discharges and agree on any measures to be taken. We are awaiting a response.
What is an electronic cigarette?
The disposable electronic cigarette, also known as the Puff, is a stick about ten centimetres long, often coloured and topped with a mouthpiece shaped like a recorder.
Made up of a protective tube, a lithium battery, electronic circuits and flavoured liquid, Puffs are particularly harmful to the environment. Given their composition, they should be taken to a waste collection centre to be treated as special waste. The sale of single-use lithium batteries is nonsense in itself, given their impact on the environment and the fact that they are designed to be recharged many times.
In addition to their environmental impact, these cigarettes are a public health hazard. Considered as foodstuffs in Switzerland, they are not affected by regulations on tobacco advertising. Only a few cantons prohibit their sale to minors. What's more, while some of them contain no nicotine, the heaviest cigarettes contain the nicotine equivalent of 215 cigarettes.
The ASL is opposed to proposals for greater public access to the banks of the lake and rivers.
In Geneva, there is a draft law and in the canton of Vaud a motion, both of which aim to create a continuous 2-metre-wide route along the banks of lakes and rivers. At the beginning of 2022, the ASL was heard by the parliamentary committees of the two cantons to give its opinion on these texts, and it reiterated its recommendations, based on the reflections carried out in 2017, published in the Lémaniques n°104.
Although the ASL is in favour of the principle of universal access to the banks of the lake, it is opposed to these proposals because of the risks to biodiversity posed by the creation of a continuous 2-metre wide footpath along the banks. It is in fact very difficult to reconcile public access with the preservation of riparian natural environments, and the ASL is instead advocating selective access to the lake, or even a limited length of non-continuous path, developed from existing centres of attraction or in areas of lesser ecological value. We therefore need to adopt a case-by-case approach rather than a general principle.
Deliberations are still underway.
In October 2022, the ASL attended the first presentation session on the Tattes-de-Bogis landfill project (VD) organised by the Direction Générale de l'Environnement du Canton de Vaud (DGE) to express its concern about the possible pollution of the Versoix river that this project could entail.
She suggested that consideration be given to locating the project on the other side of the motorway near the inter-municipal wastewater treatment plant (SITSE), which could treat the polluted water emitted by these deposits.
The ASL is awaiting the outcome of this first meeting.
The "On the water with respect" campaign provides information on the relationship between nature sports and the disturbance caused to wildlife and its habitats. It shows those involved in recreational activities and sports, particularly canoeing and paddling, how they can get around on the water in a way that respects nature.
All the information on the website: https://nature-loisirs.ch/eau
Several associations working to protect the environment in France, including the ASL, have written to the Haute-Savoie authorities to express their astonishment at the practice of motocross on the banks of Lake Geneva.
On 21 October, the ASL was informed of an accidental oil spill in Amphion (F) which required the intervention of the fire brigade. The ASL contacted the Publier town hall to obtain more information on the causes and consequences of this pollution. This was done by Monique Gasnier, who was delegated by the ASL to meet and question those responsible and to express our concerns. Her report states that she met with Mr Eynard-Machet, the deputy mayor, who told her that the pollution came from a sinking speedboat, that the boat had been removed from the water and that the small slick had been removed by the fire brigade. Two hours later, there was no visible trace of pollutant, and the return of the fish (fry) to the site was proof that the incident was over. The ASL would like to thank Monique for her efficiency and the Deputy Mayor for his availability and vigilance.
It is likely that the residual hydrocarbons have dispersed to the point where they are no longer visible. The pollution of Amphion is in itself isolated, without serious consequences, but the multiplication of these accidental pollutions creates an accumulation of residues which constitutes a permanent stress for the life of the lake. It's a recurring problem, which we'll be talking about again.
The proposed inert waste storage facility (ISDI) at Chauvilly (F), about which the ASL expressed its concerns in a letter to the Prefect of the Ain département in October 2021, and which we also reported on in Lémaniques no. 121, is also on hold. The Lyon Administrative Court has ordered that the Ain Prefect's order be temporarily suspended, ruling that the lack of an impact study was illegal and that the results of the analyses carried out by the associations and the Commune of Cessy were credible.
Read the letter sent by the ASL to the Préfète de l'Ain.
17 May 2023: Victory! The Lyon Administrative Court has overturned Chauvilly's decision.
Ribbons - Potential pollution by microplastics
Read the letter sent to the communes and municipalities of the Lake Geneva region
The "Open" project, a vast 49,000 m² shopping centre in Saint-Genis-Pouilly (F) against which the ASL wrote to the Préfète de l'Ain in December 2020, and which we reported on in Lémaniques No 121, has been halted. On 2 November, the administrative judge ruled in favour of France Nature Environnement's (FNE Ain) appeal, which we congratulate. The appeal cited the destruction of the habitat of protected species such as the woodlark, yellowhammer sparrow and common pipistrelle. To obtain an exemption, the developers of the Open project will have to demonstrate that the construction of their shopping centre is in the public interest over and above the conservation of protected species.
Following the publication in the press of new images showing ammunition boxes covered in mussels and not protected by sediment - contrary to what the authorities had claimed in the past - the ASL had written an open letter to the Federal Council in December 2019, asking it to draw up an inventory of these munitions, to assess the condition of the depots and the environmental risk, and to take protective measures that were commensurate with the risks involved.
In Geneva, the Département du territoire (DT) announced at a press conference in May that the study, carried out over an area of 1.5km2 between December 2021 and April 2022, had identified 682 magnetic points or sonar signals ranging from parasols to ammunition boxes and fish traps.
In a second phase, the searches carried out by an underwater camera robot (ROV) focused on 14 areas likely to provide quality samples. Among these areas of interest, two sectors were observed by professional divers who recovered ammunition of various calibres, some possibly dating from 1962.
According to the DT, these munitions present an extremely low risk of spontaneous explosion. The scenario of a chain reaction also seems very unlikely. Whether or not they are covered in sediment, intact or corroded, the munitions submerged in the test area would be harmless as long as they remain at a constant depth and are not subjected to excessive voluntary stress or percussion.
Further research is planned to provide a register of these munitions and tangible evidence as to whether the military equipment should be withdrawn. A clean-up project will then be designed and implemented.
It should be noted that the Petit lac is the place where the largest quantity of material is believed to have been submerged.
Project to extend the port of Amphion, including the creation of a "port village
Following a ruling by the Lyon Court of Appeal invalidating a ban on jet-skiing on Lake Geneva imposed by the Prefect of Haute-Savoie in 1989, new navigation regulations are being drawn up for the French part of Lake Geneva. This has been entrusted to the Haute-Savoie Departmental Directorate of Territories, which is carrying out a wide-ranging consultation of lake users (professionals, environmental protection associations).
In view of the numerous problems likely to be generated by the practice of this sport (noise pollution, conflicts of use, lack of safety, danger, etc.), the French group of the ASL has joined forces with the "Le Léman sans jet-ski" collective to oppose its authorisation on Lake Geneva.
First detected in Switzerland in 2011, the Quagga mussel has rapidly made itself at home in most of the country's large lakes, and its invasion is set to cause considerable economic and ecological costs. In order to halt its spread and prevent the arrival of new invaders, the Canton of Vaud is conducting an information campaign on the various vectors of contamination and the methods of combating it, aimed at the fishing, boating and diving communities.
Rue des Cordiers 2
1207 Geneva
Espace Léman opening times
Nature centre dedicated to the lake
Monday to Friday, 11am to 5pm
Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman - All rights reserved - 2024
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