The Paris Observatory’s Meudon campus, covering nearly 70 hectares, is home to a variety of habitats : naturally evolving woodland, undergrowth, meadows, wetlands… inhabited by numerous species of varying degrees of wildness and/or protected status, including around 400 Homo sapiens during the day, 286 of whom are LIRA staff.
This haven of biodiversity on the city’s doorstep is in itself a fascinating subject of research. Protected by the great enclosure wall built under Louis XVI, this estate, from which the sky has been observed for 150 years, has also become, almost in spite of itself, a refuge for wildlife.
