Ambassador Michele Ramis: France is hoping in international agreement on biodiversity

France is hoping that the international community will conclude an agreement to protect biodiversity in China, at the end of this year, Ambassador of France to Romania Michele Ramis stated on Sunday afternoon in the village of southeastern Tulcea County's Luncavita, after visiting the Cetatuia archaeological site. 

"We have a report of some experts from an international team whose conclusion is very alarming. If we do not intervene, we will witness the fifth extinction of the living species. In October there will be a big international meeting in China. In this context, an international agreement for the protection of biodiversity will be concluded, as was the case with the Paris Climate Agreement," Ambassador Michele Ramis said. 

She highlighted the importance of community involvement for the protection of natural resources, and noted that archaeologists' research contributes to protecting biodiversity. 

"This archaeological research helps us to understand the interaction between human communities and the environment and the influence of nature on the human community. This region has a very rich biodiversity and I think it is very important to understand this relationship between man and the environment because we know that biodiversity is at present threatened by human activities," the French ambassador to Romania said. 

"I never imagined that there are vestiges of a Neolithic civilization in this region's soil. It is very exciting to be here and feel the history under my feet," said Ambassador Michele Ramis. 

The Ambassador of France to Romania was welcomed to Luncavita by the local authorities, and Mayor of the commune Stefan Ilie recalled that the Romanian-French relationship in Dobrogea has roots since 1898 when "Mayor Trandafir Iorga obtained a diplomatic passport from [King] Carol I and went to France for the people of Luncavita to have tap water. (...) The French state funded the first investment in Dobrogea for water abstraction and centralized supply. The project was completed in November 1911." 

He also said that the system that was inaugurated over 100 years ago is still currently working, and some of the water supplied to the population in the commune comes from it. 

The Ambassador of France to Romania will open the works of the international colloquium on the geo-history of the wetlands on Monday starting at 9:00 hrs, with scientists from all over the world expected to attend the event, according to the Ecological-Museum Research Institute (ICEM ) Director, Cristi Micu. 

"The scientific manifestation is funded through the Romania-France Season 2019, Season supported by the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the two countries. France has been involved for 13 years in the Danube Delta research project, through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. We are in Luncavita, because the archaeological sites in this area have been integrated within the project. Last year we completed a research in the Luncavita valley area, which focuses on the floods that we record each year in this area," director Micu said.