Eau Thermale Avène and the municipality of Avène create API'A Association for the Preservation of the Impluvium of the Waters of Avène
22 March 2021
March 22nd, 2021- On the occasion of World Water Day, the brand Eau Thermale Avène, the Avène Hydrotherapy centre and the surrounding villages of Avène create API'A, an association, under the 1901 French law, for the Preservation of the Impluvium of the Waters of Avène.
API'A aims to protect the 27 km² of the Avène impluvium, located in the heart of the Haut-Languedoc Regional Natural Park, where the Avène thermal water originates and from which the drinking waters of the village of Avène are captured.
This association will manage all local initiatives for the protection of water resources from the Avène impluvium and will therefore coordinate various environmental and awareness actions: sustainable forest management, responsible agriculture and preservation of biodiversity and local natural heritage.
Our first requirement is to offer patients at the Avène Hydrotherapy centre and the brand's consumers high quality thermal water. For this water to continue to offer its dermatological virtues, we have, since the creation of the brand, carried out research programmes. This allowed us to better understand it and thus better preserve it
To do this, we first created, in 2007, the Water Research Centre which controls and monitors the purity and qualities of the Avène thermal water. It also coordinates research around this asset and contributes to sustainable management projects. We then implemented various environmental actions at the Hydrotherapy site1 . We wanted to go even further by involving the local actors from the region.
Crossed by the River Orb, the Impluvium d'Avène is also the place where drinking water is collected for the village of Avène. We found it coherent to get involved in this joint project that combines economic, hydrotherapic, touristic and conservation activities of resources and our local natural heritage.
To define the project and the actions carried out by the association, the brand Eau Thermale Avène and the village of Avène have associated the local actors from the territory. Firstly representatives of the Regional Natural Park of Haut-Languedoc, the Forestry National Office, the Regional Occitania Forestry Commission and the Herault Agricultural Chamber, and then the local forest and land owners
1.learn more : https://www.eau-thermale-avene.fr/a/responsabilite
Given the health context, our group had to adapt its means of communication, especially with the forest and agricultural owners of the territory, the first beneficiaries of the future actions of the association. We asked them through a questionnaire to identify priority actions to be carried out in the territory and to identify the volunteers to carry them out.
The first actions that will be carried out by the association, as from the 2nd quarter of this year, will be individual diagnoses, on 10 voluntary forest properties of the territory, to define the axes of improvement for sustainable management of these plots; the recycling of agricultural plastic waste such as nets, tape or string and the financing of equipment to improve the management of agricultural effluents.
A working group will also be set up to engage in a reflection on "sylvopastoralism", a mode of sustainable agriculture that reconciles the objectives of managing forests and pastoral objectives. This consists of grazing animals in the forest, to take advantage of the forage resources in the undergrowth (herbs, accessible foliage, etc…).
We are proud that our association is founded today on the World Water Day. It was a symbolic way for us to reaffirm with Avène municipality our desire to preserve this territory and its precious resources, of which the Avène Thermal Water is a part. And thus to continue our mission: to welcome, take care of and relieve, at our Hydrotherapy centre, patients suffering from skin pathologies that often have a great impact on their quality of life and that of their families" Director of the Hydrotherapy centre and member of the association's board.
About ....
... The thermal water of Avène
The benefits of Avène thermal water have been scientifically proven. More than 150 fundamental and clinical studies, and more than 50 publications in international medical journals, attest to its soothing, anti-irritating and calming properties. Our research teams continue to explore this unique water, with expertise and knowledge acquired over 30 years.
... Avène Hydrotherapy centre
Dedicated to dermatology, located a few steps from the source, in the heart of Haut-Languedoc regional natural Park, the Hydrotherapy centre functions with scientific thermalism: combining thermal water and scientific research on the one hand, and conducting treatments under medical supervision, on the other. Patients benefit from a personalized care programme and workshops led by an expert team gives them the keys to relieve their daily lives. The pathologies indicated for the cure include eczema and atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, the after-effects of burns or scars, ichthyosis and post-cancer cures.
... The Water Research Centre
The Water Research centre of the Pierre Fabre Group, monitors and controls the Avène thermal spring water, develops knowledge about its origins and ensures the protection of its impluvium. The Avène Hydrotherapy centre is the only French resort to benefit from the know-how of a Water Research centre. The latter carries out an average of 40,000 checks per year to guarantee the quality of the water for the Hydrotherapy centre. It is accredited by the COFRAC according to ISO/IEC 17025 regulations for its activities of physical-chemical and microbiological analyses. The Water Research centre adds to the knowledge about the waters and Avène thermal water through awareness-raising activities.
... The Avène Impluvium
It is the place where the Avène Thermal Water originates. Due to its location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, mountain and continental climates of the upper Orb Valley, the Avène's impluvium is of an exceptional nature. This vast space represents an area of 27km2. The reliefs are very marked between the Avène hydrotherapy centre, at 340 meters altitude, and the highest summits at 1 022 meters. It is made up of 76% of forests, with a mixture of hardwoods (oaks, beech trees, chestnut trees...) and softwoods (pines or douglas firs). 22% of its area is occupied by agricultural areas, mainly for grazing and forage crops.
Rainwater pours over the watershed and makes a long journey through its underground depths. As it progresses, it heats up and loads itself with biological and mineral elements to become the thermal water of Avène with its unique properties. If it rains an average of 1 200 millimetres of water per year, only a portion of this water seeps deep into the rocks, later giving birth to the Avène thermal water. The other part remains at a shallow depth and feeds the catchments intended for water supply in the territory.
... The brand Eau Thermale Avène
Eau Thermale Avène, brand of the dermo-cosmetic division of the Pierre Fabre Group, proposes skin care products dedicated to sensitive skin, advised by dermatologists. At the heart of all their products, Avène thermal water with a unique mineral and biological heritage and whose effectiveness has been demonstrated by more than 150 scientific studies. This unique water is used at the Avène Hydrotherapy centre for its soothing, anti-irritating and softening properties in the management of skin pathologies, such as eczema or the consequences of oncology treatments. Each type of sensitive skin can find an answer to its needs in the skin care offer of Eau Thermale Avène. The brand is also involved in societal approaches, such as Skin Protect, Ocean Respect and Eau Thermale Avène Skin and Cancer.
... The municipality of Avène
Avène is a village located north of the department of Herault, in the Occitania region.
Avène has the chance to be in a preserved and unique environment, rich in the quality of its waters and its biodiversity at the confluence of the three climates, the Mediterranean, oceanic and mountains. Its population of 400 is spread over a dozen hamlets allowing it to maintain its territory efficiently. Its extensive agriculture sustains its natural resources.
This village is part of the “Community of Communes Grand Orb”; which is already doing various environmental actions. With its help, it wants to commit itself to ensuring quality food, raising awareness of the environment for all audiences, maintaining the quality of life and the quality of their environment, reducing waste to preserve the local environment and fighting climate change.
CONTACT PRESSE - Isabelle LENORMAND //
isabelle.lenormand@pierre-fabre.com // 01 49 10 83 92