Letter of Support for Pierre-Yves Teycheney

Madam President and Director General of CIRAD,

We wish to express our unequivocal support for our colleague Dr. Pierre-Yves Teycheney, who is currently the subject of disciplinary sanctions within CIRAD, including a disciplinary warning and the decision not to appoint him as Deputy Director of the PVBMT unit as of January 1, 2026.

We respectfully ask that you reconsider these sanctions, the grounds for which we believe warrant a more equitable assessment.

The circumstances that led to these sanctions are detailed in the letter of support from Professor Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Executive Director of the Gobabeb – Namib Research Institute, which she has sent to you. With her consent, this letter is attached as an annex to this correspondence. We summarize the key points below:

• No sampling was carried out by Dr. Teycheney in the Namib Desert: the samples were collected exclusively by Dr. Marais, a duly authorized Namibian researcher.
• Dr. Teycheney did not conduct any sampling or experimentation. His activities were limited to naturalistic observations and photography.
• The administrative and scientific procedures required for sampling had been duly initiated and complied with applicable regulations; only the local transport of the samples, performed as a logistical favor, was not explicitly covered by the authorizations.
• The local transport of the samples by Dr. Teycheney, at the request of Dr. Marais, was carried out in the refrigerator of his rental vehicle to ensure their preservation until they reached Windhoek, as part of the administrative procedures preceding their export.

Upon his return to France, Dr. Teycheney was sanctioned for alleged misconduct and alleged reputational harm to CIRAD. However, the official Namibian documentation and the statement from Gobabeb indicate a different perspective:

• The case rests on an exceptionally strict administrative interpretation concerning the local transport of plant material and breach of tourist visa conditions.
• The fines, set at the statutory minimum, reflect the weakness of the case and the absence of any intentional wrongdoing.
• The Namib Research Institute characterizes the procedures applied in Namibia as unprecedented for comparable circumstances. Taken together, these elements strongly call into question the proportionality of the sanctions now imposed by CIRAD.

To characterize these events as "damage to the reputation of CIRAD" appears inconsistent with the findings of the local authorities and the partner institution. In the absence of any proven intentional misconduct, ethical breach, or demonstrable harm to CIRAD's image, and given the full and unequivocal support of the Namibian partner, we consider the sanctions to be neither justified nor proportionate.

Our appeal is grounded in the core values that sustain scientific endeavor: rigor, fairness, transparency, and mutual trust. Upholding these principles is essential to preserving a professional environment in which international collaboration can flourish.

Accordingly, we respectfully request a thorough and impartial re-examination of the case and the sanctions imposed, with a view to lifting or revising the measures that appear disproportionate. Such a decision would restore Dr. Teycheney's ability to resume his responsibilities with the confidence and support necessary for effective scientific work and would reaffirm CIRAD's commitment to equitable, evidence-based personnel decisions.

We thank you for your attention to this matter and remain available for any further information or discussion.

Annex - Professor Gillian Maggs-Kölling's letter of support:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OFX30BF82hOR0t9zt41EyeS_r5rpfVcG/view