atlantique en language language loire nl nl site

By Francis Muller, pôle relais tourbières / French Mire Resource Centre
and Hervé Cubizolle, Université Jean Monnet, St-Etienne (F)
Low density of Mires and Fens
2
High density of Mires and Fens
Belgique
La Manche
General presentation
Deutschland
Suisse
Main area for raised bogs
Italia
Atlantic Ocean
España
Mediterranean Sea
Geographical location of main French Mires and Fens
General presentation
3
LIFE Programmes ‘Tourbières de France’, 1995-1999
and ‘Tourbières de Midi-Pyrénées’
This programme was lead during 5 years all over
the country by Espaces Naturels de France,
federation of French conservatories.
It concerned 39 sites of peatlands in 15
regions.
Normandy
Vosges
Brittany
Massif Central
Pyrenees
Alps
Some of the considered sites
were fens (in the northern
plains f. ex.), most were mires
or bogs
Another programme was
lead meanwhile in region
Midi-Pyrénées.
It included an inventory of 4500
ha of peatlands (400 sites) and
enabled the edition of a practical
guide adapted to the local
situation
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What could be realised during LIFE Programme ‘Tourbières de France’
General presentation
- Urgent works
on the 39 sites
- Publication of a handbook for the
manager of bogs and fens
- A proposal to the
Ministry of
Environment for a
‘strategy of
conservation in
favour of French
peatlands’, in 9 points
Positive elements since LIFE programme
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What happened since LIFE Nature programme ?
1- Yearly management works on designated sites
- A continuity of the yearly management could be
noticed for quite all the sites I could join or that we
follow. It may consist of works like water level
management, mowing, grazing…
- A basic scientific monitoring is at least generally
assured (on basis, f. ex., of botany, ornithology,
evolution of main habitats). In some cases, new
taxonomic groups are now investigated or are studied
more in detail (Sphagna…). Annual monitoring or new
studies may have occurred in some cases.
- Work on public awareness and visits. When paths
had been created during the programme, organised
visits are often proposed. New information trails or
brochures were often realised since the programme.
Time for these actions is larger when the site is included
in a Nature Reserve or other subsided area.
Positive elements since LIFE programme
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2 - Protection of new sites or new parts of sites
- Purchases and
contracts with land
owners, by the
different
‘Conservatoires
d’espaces naturels’ in
most French regions
and by other private
or public bodies. 102
bogs protected in
2002
- Former
LIFE
sites
strongly contribute to
the
construction
of
Natura 2000 network.
But the EC still stigmatises a
lack of designation of raised
bogs in France
Mires designated
in 2002 for Nat.
2000,
(187 sites)
- A dynamics created through the implementation of a
0 to 2% tax (TDENS) on new constructions,
taken in some Départements, in favour of Sensitive
Natural Areas of these départements
Example
For Département Finistère,
in
Brittany,
this
tax
represented €1,815,000 in
2002
Photo CG29
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Positive elements since LIFE programme
3 - Conservation strategy
- The implementation of
the ‘strategy in favour
of bogs and fens’ is
initiated
- This strategy is the guideline for the French Mire
Resource Centre
- An evaluation of its implementation has been
made for region Rhône-Alpes during a seminary in
2003
4 - Research on mires
A National Research Programme on Wetlands
included, for bogs and fens :
- Hydraulic functioning and type diversity,
- Ecological and socio-economical approaches
- Application for a conservation and management strategy
Location of bogs and fens studied during ‘National Research Programme’
French Mire
Resource Centre
Region
Rhône-Alpes
Regionally, a Research
Programme on RhôneAlpes Bogs and Fens
(PETRA) is running
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5 – Creation of the French Mire Resource Centre
Positive elements since LIFE programme
This centre was established in Besançon (NE France) in 2002.
- It runs a specialised library
- It publishes electronic and
printed newsletters, mainly
dedicated to managers
- It organises or co-organises seminars,
meetings and field sessions
- It works with national and local
authorities, and with 4 other Resource
Centres dedicated to other types of
wetlands
Positive elements since LIFE programme
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6 - Regional and interregional actions find a new dynamism
Diagnostic and action plans
initiated by Mire Resource
Centre and local partners :
Massif Central,
Pyrenees,
Parisian Basin
Regional action plans for
bogs and fens, with the
help of public bodies :
Franche-Comté,
Auvergne,
Rhône-Alpes
A network of
correspondents,
some of them full-time
employed for peatlands,
builds the frame of regular
exchanges between the
different regions and sites
Positive elements since LIFE programme
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7 – ‘SAGNE’ programmes
‘Sagne’ means ‘bog’ or ‘marsh’ in Occitan language. It’s also an abbreviation for ‘Service of assistance for
the management of nature and environment’
Helped by Adour-Garonne Water
Agency,
the
concept
was
first
developed in Midi-Pyrénées region.
It is now spreading to Lozère,
Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Limousin.
‘SAGNE’ programmes were locally
developed after LIFE :
- SAGNE staff contact and inform land owners or
stakeholders about the interest of their bogs
- They advise them about how to manage mires,
according to their way of farming
- They advise about possible hydraulic works
Concrete developments
- Material and engines were
“Kastor”
developed, to fit to local needs
- Drainage or destruction have been
avoided in some sites
Advantages of SAGNE:
- It especially works on small mires, not
included in Natura 2000
- It gives access to the land owners and
stakeholders, without ‘frightening them’
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LIFE Programme ‘Tourbières de France’, 1995-1999
Some difficulties managers faced after LIFE
Difficulties
Difficulty to implement more than just standard works
- works on a large scale (watershed)
- expensive works including building dams or re-filling ditches
- technical and scientific knowledge and experiences must be widely known (that’s all one of the Mire
Resource Centre’s tasks…)
- technical knowledge needs to be refined… but how far can an experience be transposed from one
mire to another?
Implementing a long-term scientific monitoring is not easy…
- As financial means lack…
- As the interest of most university laboratories on the topics of mires is rather low…
- As some chairs simply disappeared in many universities these last years (botany…) : amateurs
cannot totally replace professional staff.
- Some disciplines are not well represented among scientists (specialists of some groups of
Invertebrates f. ex.)
General difficulties
- a certain turnover of staff working on projects
- sometimes, trouble for NGOs to last (example in Brittany)
- regional authorities are more and more asked to help, as the French state partly withdraws… but
there are big differences of possibilities and wills from one region to the other.
- Natura 2000 brought some troubles and some hopes, but its implementation is very slow and
financing is hard
Let’s say that, according to ‘PROMME’ recommendations, some steps are
sometimes missed, intentionally or not. F. ex., preliminary hydraulic studies may
not have been done ; Natura 2000 or other funds do not finance them
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Some examples of sites included in LIFE “Tourbières”
Drugeon valley and Frasne plateau
(département Doubs, Franche-Comté)
Some examples of sites
After LIFE programme,
standard works were led on
the mires, including bush
clearing every 3-4 years and
partial grazing
Difficulties
There’s a lack of financial means to undertake
larger studies or monitoring. A hydraulic study
should be necessary at Vaux, where some
questions cannot be answered without.
Strong points since LIFE
The site was designated as a Ramsar site in
2004 : a large communication has been made,
even abroad, especially about the ‘re-meandring’
of river Drugeon, and there are now similar
attempts elsewhere
Every July, some peat is dug, showing
the past customs on this mire, during a
popular feast in Frasne
Some examples of sites
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Mires of Grand-Hazé (Département Orne, Lower Normandy)
What LIFE Nature ‘Tourbières de France’
could bring
- In or around these 95 ha of peatlands, were open areas
regressed, trees and shrubs were cut.
- Fences were built and horses were introduced for grazing
Since LIFE,
- Different works were completed on the field.
- Contracts could be renewed.
- The actions are followed by Orne Department Council staff.
Strong points
since LIFE
- The Departement
Council of Orne
could bring the
funds that lacked
through Natura
2000. As well did
European EAGGF
funds.
Difficulties
- Natura 2000 could not finance most of the
proposed actions
- A professor of botany of University of Caen goes
on investigating after being retired, but his chair
was cancelled after his departure of university !
- Managers regret that a hydraulic study could
not have taken place
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Les Dauges Mires (département Haute-Vienne, Limousin)
What LIFE Nature ‘Tourbières de
France’ could bring
- 100 ha of abandoned land could be purchased
Some examples of sites
- an action plan was defined
Since LIFE, another LIFE programme was realised!
All the actions begun during the 1st programme were
developed. On the field, we can notice a combination of
creation of small ponds, mowing, grazing…
Strong points in new LIFE project ‘HauteVézère’
- a hydraulic study was made on the site, but after 1st
LIFE project, with University of Tours
- A strong accent was put on communication ; a film was
produced
Strong points after 2nd LIFE project
- a contract has been signed with the Loire-Brittany
Water Agency for 2004-2008, for a large panel of actions
on the mire (including all aspects mentioned in
PROMME!). 279,000 € are subsidied by the Agency for
these operations
General view of the valley
Some examples of sites
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Mires of Lajo (département Lozère, Languedoc-Roussillon)
Advantages of LIFE Nature ‘Tourbières de
France’
- It was the first big challenge of the NGO working in this
département and meant the beginning of its development
Since LIFE, contracts have been renewed with the land
Part of the site is grazed. Grazing
could be extended to nearby pine
woods to lighten them
owners, and the site’s management goes on.
Strong points since LIFE
- SAGNE network will work on the site and spread
contacts with local farmers
Difficulties
- Universities are far away and there are few scientists
coming to these premises
- There have been no hydraulic studies… but there may
not have been significant disturbances
- Available agro-environmental measures appear not to
be adapted to what must be done here
A discovery path was constructed on the mire
Towards a common monitoring project?
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A system of measurement as a common project for European mires?
Introduction of the possible project
Mires can be considered both as witnesses and actors of the climatic
systems :
- Witnesses, as climate changes impact on the running and dynamics of mires
- Actors, as 3x more carbon is stored in mires than in tropical forests. If it is
freed, it may contribute to a augmentation of the greenhouse effect
Mires are sensitive to human activities : drainage, peat extraction,
afforestation…
So, it may be useful to develop a European mire survey network
It could follow the examples of other networks that have been developed in the
Arctic, the Antarctic or on high mountains
In France, following the American “Long Term Ecological Researches”, the CNRS
developed workshops on the Loire river basin.
We propose to discuss with our European colleagues the
opportunity of developing such a network for the European mires.
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The present monitoring network, developed in Eastern Massif
Central and other French regions
Towards a common monitoring project?
In French Massif Central, 4 sites have been equipped :
Until now, the instrumentation is mainly hydro-meteorological
Instruments used :
- pluviographs
- thermographs
- HOBO systems (temperatures…)
- albedometers
- hygrographs
- anemometers
- networks of piezometers
Monitoring also includes
vegetation studies
Thalimede
It may also include biochemical studies
(see the example of Prenarde-Pifoy bog, in Forez,
developed on Jérôme Porteret’s poster)
HOBO Systems
Pluviometer
Equipment are projected on other
French sites :
- a bog in Northern Vosges
- a mire in Cézallier
- a mire in Livradois
- a bog in Corsica
Towards a common monitoring project?
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What could be undertaken?
If the proposal of such a network is adopted, some questions should be
considered :
- agreement on scientific and technical aspects (protocols, type of instruments)
- financing possibilities
- constitution of a responsible team
- selection of some sites (20 to 30?) scattered all over Europe, from SW to NE
… and all details about the project’s functioning
Contacts :
Francis Muller,
Pôle relais tourbières,
Fédération des conservatoires
d’espaces naturels
32 Grande rue,
F-25000 Besançon
Tel. ++33 (0)3 81 81 78 64
E-mail : francis.muller@pole-tourbieres.org
Hervé Cubizolle,
CRENAM
Université Jean Monnet
6, rue Basse des Rives,
F-42023 St-Etienne cedex 2
Tel. : ++33 (0)4 77 42 19 25
E-mail : Herve.Cubizolle@univ-st-etienne.fr
www.univ-st-etienne.fr/crenam
www.pole-tourbieres.org
Thanks to the authors of
the photographs, maps
and drawings
Machais mire, Vosges