Honeyguide and LPO – a longstanding connection

During this year’s French Pyrenees holiday (June 2026), we had a guest speaker who was probably marking our last holiday that included a donation to LPO. This is a tale and a link that I’d like to share with the wider Honeyguide network.

But first, an explanation of the initials LPO, which stands for La Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, the French Bird Protection League. LPO is the BirdLife partner in France, the equivalent of the RSPB in the UK, SEO in Spain, SPEA in Portugal and so on. These organisations have much in common, though also vary greatly in terms of membership, activities and priorities.

LPO has a regional structure and here we were in Hautes-Pyrénées. The LPO’s website describes activities in the region. For example, on the Hautes-Pyrénées web pages I have learned that there was a count of wintering red kites in the Pyrenees in January 2026, which counted 10,303 red kites, 2,211 of which were in Hautes-Pyrénées, with a population trend considered stable.

Guy Maille of LPO Hautes-Pyrénées with Honeyguide's Chris Durdin.

This is my account of the meeting at the Hotel La Brèche de Roland in Gèdre, taken from the French Pyrenees holiday report. 

We had a dinner and after-dinner guest this evening: Guy Maille, President of LPO Hautes-Pyrénées. Chris was in contact with Guy about Honeyguide’s donation, and had learnt that he speaks no English. We soon realised that Guy was quite a personality and not to be put off by such a minor matter. He travelled to Gèdre from Toulouse to see us, after which he was going home in the next valley but one, something like three hours away, then heading off to a meeting in Marseille in the morning. Over dinner, those who spoke some French also practised with a Google translate app, which proved astonishingly effective as we gathered in the hotel’s meeting room (with no competing football, thank goodness) to hear about LPO’s work. I think we were all impressed by Guy’s energy and enthusiasm for LPO’s nature conservation work.

Guy described various meetings with farmers and hunters where he tried to find what they had in common, to further nature conservation. He had to spend time on how to deal with many enquiries about sick or injured birds, not normally a conservation priority, but needing answers. In response to a question, he was optimistic about the level of interest in nature conservation among young people.

Bearded vulture (Roger Tidman).

A number that Guy gave, which I made a point of noting, was 66 pairs of bearded vultures in the French Pyrenees in 2026. Checking on Honeyguide’s French Pyrenees web page, I found that previous counts that I had noted were 17 pairs in 1994, 24 pairs in 2004 and 39 pairs in 2024. This is seriously impressive growth for a species that only raises a single chick per year, not necessarily every year.

“La retraite n'est pas des vacances“ – “Retirement is not a holiday”, was a phrase Guy used a couple of times.

Previous groups in the French Pyrenees met, from LPO, either Phillipe Serre or, in more recent years Gwénaëlle Plet – both English-speaking. Both are still working in the Pyrenees, Gwénaëlle as a mountain guide. By chance we met Gwénaëlle in the Saugué Valley; she was driving a minibus with a group of American students.

Gwénaëlle Plet and Honeyguide's Chris Durdin, 2015.

We were able to send £940 (about €1062) to LPO. The conservation contribution this year was made up of £40 per person, an additional donation of £200 and supplemented by gift aid through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust. The total for all conservation contributions through Honeyguide since 1991 (July 2026) is £168,827. Another day, there is potentially more to add to complete the picture of Honeyguide and LPO, including our many years of support for the Refuges LPO project through holidays in The Lot and Dordogne, and a different project one year in Languedoc. 

A word of explanation, for anyone coming across this blog who doesn’t know how Honeyguide works. Part of the ethos of Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays has always been to contribute to the protection of the wildlife that we enjoy, put into effect by donations to conservation projects and organisations linked to our activities. Donations go through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust, through which we can claim Gift Aid and increase our charitable activity.

Chris Durdin