The Loire is a world unto itself

The Loire is a world unto itself. A river whose course extends for over 600 miles (1,000 km) and doesn't concern itself with administrative borders. A drainage basin, whose waters flow through the equivalent of a fifth of mainland France. An ecological continuity connecting upstream and downstream, mountains and flatlands, land and ocean. A hugely diverse and complex ecosystem, at the mercy of wide-ranging and systemic pressures (agricultural, industrial, urban, tourism-related, etc.). An anthroposystem profoundly shaped by human settlements stretching back more than a thousand years along its banks. The Loire is all of that at the same time: a world composed of other worlds.

A dozen of us – biologists, illustrator, writers, journalists, photographer, producer – have dipped our feet and our paddles into these Loire worlds during a trip all the way downriver, in an attempt to give an account of these in as many ways as there are forms of the river.

From the sources to the estuary, via the islands, this is a “Patchwork Loire” that we invite you 
to explore in this digital space, to broaden our perception of a river which, in its own way, is alerting us to present and future upheavals.

For the Loire is our “sentinel”: the memory of what was, witness to what is and standing vigil over what could come to pass.

Loire sentinelle