Bienvenue to our new network member !

Le Réseau des Centres de Soins de la Faune Sauvage de France joins the EUROWA network.

‘Le Réseau’ is a key organisation for oiled wildlife preparedness in France as it acts as a link between care wildlife hospitals and authorities and health monitoring institutions. Joining EUROWA will allow their centres’ staff and volunteers to bring their technical expertise into the network, to follow EUROWA training and be part of a wider pool of trained responders following EUROWA Standards that can offer help to other European wildlife hospitals in case of a complex wildlife emergency.

Le Réseau was created in 2019, as a network of 18 founding wildlife hospitals who came together to create a national network with the common goal of improving the care of wildlife in distress. Today it has grown to include 26 wildlife hospitals, encompassing approximately 100 employees and nearly 5,000 volunteers and taking care of around 50 000 animals each year. The network provides information sharing and knowledge tools to all wildlife hospitals in France (including non-members). This includes compiling a national list of wildlife hospitals, monthly newsletters, online exchange groups, conferences and webinars.

Le Réseau counts among its members 8 coastal centres who would be key organisations in responding to an oil spill or other marine wildlife emergency. Several of these founding members have been actively involved in large scale marine pollution incidents such as the Tanio, Prestige, Erika and Grande America. Le Réseau’s members wish to offer harmonised coordination, protocols and assistance in case of a marine wildlife emergency. Membership of EUROWA will allow them to share their experiences and learn many others from other EUROWA Network members, which is a challenge for all oiled wildlife responders since oil spills do not happen every day.

This brings the total number of EUROWA network members to 10 and we trust we can carry on growing the membership to other European coastal countries in the coming years.

For further information, contact the EUROWA secretariat.