

FONDATION IRIS



ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
February 2020
7th Continent Expedition: Time to change tack!
​
"First I discovered that the 7th continent of plastic didn’t exist in the way one might imagine".
Watch here the full short movie directed by Sophie Lemoine, a cook on board the schooner "7th Continent" during the last scientific expedition in October 2019.
​
The "Nomad Institute"
​
2020 - Projet "Institut des nomades"
This project, led by Highland Initiatives-France aims at rehabilitating the cultural values of the Tibetan nomads and restoring the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau, endangered by increasing industrial activity, urban development and the disrupting consequences of climate change.
​

Photo and film festivals supported by the fondation Iris in 2020
​




"Overseas Life-size"
The Fondation Iris has offered its support to four festivals in France in 2020:
​
-
The 12th Festival Terres d'ailleurs (Elsewhere Lands)
Toulouse. November 20 - November 24, 2020.
​
( Wildlife and Nature photography Festival) at Montier en Der.
Montier en Der. November 15 - November 17, 2020.
​
-
The 18th Festival "Le Grand Bivouac"
(Travel Festival, The Big Camp) (A digital version is set up)
Alberville October 17 - October 20, 2020.
​
-
The 5rd Festival Lumexplore
Film festival devoted to scientific and environmental exploration.
La Ciotat. September 12 - September 15, 2020.
​
Outre mer grandeur nature "Overseas Life-size": a photo exhibition displayed on the Palais du Luxembourg garden fence in Paris from September 19, 2020 to January 17, 2021
​
The Fondation Iris has decided to support the remarkable work of the OCEINDIA association, a collective of photographers who have embarked in an outstanding adventure to bear witness of the "fragile beauty" of the French ultramarine territories.
Truly, the vast and unknown French overseas territories deserved a major exhibition to celebrate their immense biodiversity and breath-taking scenary. If some areas are preserved in land and marine protected sites, if remoteness allows them to remain untouched, isn’t our awareness of their irreplaceable and inestimable value the best way to protect them?
Let us have the wisdom to allow those lands that are still virgin to remain a distant and inaccessible dream.
​





Photo and film festivals supported by the fondation Iris in 2019
​




The Fondation Iris has offered its support to four festivals in France in 2019:
​
-
The 11th Festival Terres d'ailleurs (Elsewhere Lands)
Toulouse. November 20 - November 24, 2019.
​
( Wildlife and Nature photography Festival) at Montier en Der.
Montier en Der. November 14 - November 17, 2019.
​
-
The 17th Festival "Le Grand Bivouac"
(Travel Festival, The Big Camp)
Alberville October 17 - October 20, 2019.
​
-
The 4rd Festival Lumexplore
Film festival devoted to scientific and environmental exploration.
La Ciotat. September 12 - September 15, 2019.
The protection of primary forests




The loss of the vegetation cover, and especially that of primary forests has a direct impact on the rainfall pattern, the capacity of carbon sequestration, the production of oxygen and the number of vital living species. Quite simply on life itself.
The aim of the "Sauvegarde des Forêts Primaires" association, is to encourage, promote and organize a range of projects that participate in the conservation of primary forests.
The Fondation Iris is backing one of these projects in the hope of carrying as widely and urgently as possible the message carried by the venerable French botanist Francis Hallé in his fight for the survival of tropical forests. This support focuses in particular on:
-
The "Sauvegarde des Forêts Primaires" association participating to a botanical mission in Gabon on February 2019.
-
The Association’s participation in the making of the original film production "Poumon Vert et Tapis Rouge" (Green Lungs and Red Carpet) with Francis Hallé. This film, directed by Luc Marescot, carries Hallé’s message in a very original way. The film was presented at the La Rochelle Festival, France in November 2019, and will be released on January 20, 2020.
-
The free distribution of the above film in Middle schools, High schools, Film schools as well as festivals dedicated to adventure, exploration and environmental issues.
-
The free release in primary schools of a 5 to 10 minutes’ film "Dessine moi ta Forêt" (Draw your Forest) designed to encourage children to draw the trees in their surroundings and express their vision of the forest.
Photo and film festivals supported by the fondation Iris
in 2018
​




The Fondation Iris has offered its support to four festivals in France in 2018:
​
-
The 10th Festival Terres d'ailleurs
(Elsewhere Lands) in Toulouse.
November 21 - November 25, 2018.
​
(Wildlife and Nature photography Festival) at Montier en Der.
November 15 - November 18, 2018.
​
-
The 17th Festival "Le Grand Bivouac"
(Travel Festival, The Big Camp) in Alberville October 18 October 21, 2018.
​
-
The 3rd Festival Lumexplore
at La Ciotat. Film festival devoted to scientific and environmental exploration.
September 13 - September 16, 2018.
2018-2019 Water and transboundary rivers
Wild Wonders of Yunnan
​
The Fondation Iris offers its support to a series of conferences by Franck Vogel on the topic of border rivers and worldwide access to water. The Foundation has chosen to encourage this reporter and photographer’s presentations in schools and institutions of higher education where tomorrows’ decision-makers benefit from a traditional teaching in management, economy, data processing and politics but very little on ecological subjects.
Six conferences have already been given :
-
IESA Paris, November 6, 2018
-
AgroParisTech, November 13, 2018
-
Sciences Po Paris, November 29, 2018
-
ESCP Europe in Berlin, January 8 and 9, 2019 (vidéo)
-
ESSEC Paris, January 10, 2019 (vidéo)
​​
​




Wild Wonders of China is a proposed initiative to reveal China’s amazing natural treasures to China’s citizens and the World: wildlife and wild places that most people don’t even know do exist. It is about the joy of wildness.
Fondation Iris financially supports three photo missions to the UNESCO world heritage site called "Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas" in China, between fall 2017 and spring 2018.

The "ORIGINS" exhibition
Luxembourg Garden fence, Paris
​
Fondation Iris supports the ORIGINS exhibition which will take place in the heart of Paris on the Luxembourg Garden fence, from March 17th to July 15th 2018. The ORIGINS exhibition is a 4.5 billion-year journey that spans the birth of Earth and its formation to the emergence and explosion of life in all its forms. The ORIGINS project pays tribute to Earth’s power, energy and extremely rich biodiversity, revealing the awesome beauty of wild nature.
Photo and documentary film festivals
supported in 2017
​



Fondation Iris supported 3 photo or documentary film festivals in France durin year 2017 2017 :
-
Festival Terres d'ailleurs in Toulouse,
from November 29th to December 3rd 2017.
​
-
Festival international de la photographie animalière et de nature in Montier en Der,
from November 16th to 19th 2017.
​
from September 14th to 17th 2017.
​
Introduction to the protection
of marine ecosystems
​
During a mission to Indonesia on plastic pollution, Fondation Iris took part in a remarkable initiative by the Tiger Blue team, which organized an educational cruise for twelve children from the Jodie O'Shea orphanage in Bali, on the theme of preservating marine ecosystems in general and raising awareness on plastic pollution in the oceans in partnership with the Gili Eco Trust NGO in Gili Trawangan.
​
Insignificant : our place in the universe
​
In the aftermath of COP21, climatic and environmental questions are still a primary subject for the international community.
Rather than conveying a pessimistic image about the damage caused by human activity, this short movie tries to raise the spectator’s awareness of the wonders of nature. The narrative weave projects its viewers into a world where humanity has never been at the centre, whereas the 3D images plunge the viewer into this infinitely large theatre.
Project Insignificant is the result of the collaboration between the CNRS and the Université Paris-Sud. Fondation Iris is a sponsor of the project.
​
Summit of Conscience for the Climate
​




Ahead of the COP 21 Climate Conference, people from many of the world’s religions and wisdoms will meet in Paris on July 21 for a Summit of Conscience for the Climate to answer the question "Why do I care about the planet?” and launch a “Call to Conscience for the Climate”.
It is only a mobilization of conscience on a global scale that will enable humanity to meet this great challenge confronting us: how to limit global warming by taking real action, including reducing our consumption of fossil fuels.
Time is short. This is not only a political, economic or ecological issue. It is the future of humanity that is at stake. Each of us is called to respond now to the question: Why do I care? Is it important to me that the adventure of mankind on Earth can continue? Am I ready to change my lifestyle today so that the children of our children come into this world in tolerable conditions?
Fondation Iris is a partner of the Why do I care campaign
​
The "Honey Roads" Exhibition,
Luxembourg Garden Fence, Paris
​




The "Honey Roads" exhibition, made up of 80 outstanding photos by Eric Tourneret, the "bee photographer", will take place in the heart of Paris on the Luxembourg Garden fence, from September 16, 2015 to January 19, 2016 during the PARIS 2015 climate conference - COP 21.
With over a million visitors, this exhibition offers an extraordinary chance to send a strong signal for the preservation of bees at a time when they disappear, victims of an agricultural model that pours tons of pesticides into nature and transforms our landscapes into a green desert, toxic to the bees. Unique in its scope, this exhibition could allow all of us to unite around this event and show our willingness to protect nature as we know it for future generations.
This exhibition is part of the mission of Fondation Iris to support initiatives preserving biodiversity.
​
Wild Wonders of China
First photo mission in Sichuan
​




Wild Wonders of China is a proposed initiative to reveal China’s amazing natural treasures to China’s citizens and the World: wildlife and wild places that most people don’t even know do exist. It is about the joy of wildness.
Using the emotional power of world class photography and videography, combined with positive messages and facts, we wish to inspire people to care about and enjoy China’s biodiversity, its many wild places and the great variety of species that live there. Widely showcasing a side of China that only very few have really ever seen or heard about.
Fondation Iris financially supports the first photo mission to Sichuan province’s Tangjiahe Nature Reserve, from April 18th to May 4th 2015.

Communication mission
with the A.R.B.R.E.S. association
​

Founded in 1994, the A.R.B.R.E.S. association aims to be a gathering place for all those who are interested in remarkable trees and to disseminate knowledge of all kinds related to these trees by organizing visits, conferences, discussions, and exhibitions.
Fondation Iris financially supports A.R.B.R.E.S. in its communication mission with the public, the tree owners and the policy makers.
​

Supporting conservation
through communication
with the Wild Wonders Foundation
​




The Wild Wonders Foundation is a swedish foundation supporting initiatives that aim to reveal the beauty and importance of our natural heritage as well as the conservation issues this heritage is facing.
Initiatives that strive to use the emotional power of photography, videography and other media in favour of conservation.
Fondation Iris financially supports various initiatives of the Wild Wonders Foundation like Wild Wonders of China.
​
