Locating sensitive areas – Programme Quiétude attitude

The Natura 2000 ecological network aims to preserve rare or threatened species and natural environments throughout Europe. It includes special protection areas protecting species of the “Birds” directive. It is also composed of Special Areas of Conservation whose objective is the preservation of habitats and species of the “Habitats” directive.

7 Natura 2000 sites are located on the territory of the Ardennes Regional Nature Park. The Special Area of Conservation (SCA) of the Ardennes Plateau contributes to the preservation of 21 species of birds throughout the forest massif of the Ardennes Plateau. This richness is also found within various special conservation areas (6 SCA) that cover both peat bogs, dry grasslands, valleys and hibernation sites of chiropterans.

Natura 2000

Nature Reserve

The initiative of the classification in Nature Reserve can return:

the State: National Nature Reserves,
or the Regions: Regional Nature Reserves.

Beyond these differences in administrative status, the Nature Reserves share common objectives and elements: a territory, a regulation and a management authority. They have three inseparable missions: to protect natural environments, species and geological heritage, to manage sites and to raise public awareness.

Two national reserves are located in the territory of the Ardennes NRP. The NNR of Vireux Molhain, managed by the Office national des forêts, is located on the Belgian border and is of major geological and paleontological interest. The NNR of the Pointe de Givet, co-managed by the Office national des forêts and the Conservatoire des espaces naturels de Champagne Ardenne, is divided into 8 entities. The limestone soils and the orientation of the lawns on different slopes allow the presence of habitats and plants with a southern character.

Biotope protection areas are established under the authority of the Prefect by prefectoral decree and are intended to preserve the living environments of animal and plant species protected by law. The prefectural biotope protection order lists the prohibited activities and the regulated activities necessary to protect the habitats of the targeted species.

In the Regional Natural Park of the Ardennes, 6 decrees of protection of biotope regulate exceptional natural sites. These are the peat bogs of Hauts-Buttés and Rocroi (3 decrees) and the dry grasslands of the Pointe de Givet (3 decrees). The Park is currently working on updating these decrees and creating new ones with the State services.

Prefectoral decree

Biological Reserve

Biological reserves are established in public forests under the authority of the ministers in charge of agriculture and ecology by interministerial order. There are two types of biological reserves: the so-called “integral” reserves in which logging is prohibited to preserve the natural character of a forest and the so-called “directed” reserves where silvicultural interventions remain possible but mainly oriented towards the conservation of forest biodiversity.

The biological reserves present on the territory of the Park are also located in Natura 2000 sites. These are sites of swamps and peatlands such as the Source de l’Ours, the swamp of Gué d’Hossus or the pond of Bérulle.

Regulation

Regulation:

Tourbière des Hauts-Buttés: municipal decree forbidding access to the site without authorization from the management committee and/or the commune of Monthermé

The Nationa Nature Reserve de la Pointe de Givet and NNR de Vireux Molhain: access limited to paths open to the public, dogs are not allowed even if they are on a leash.

All the Prefectural Orders of Protection of Biotope: prohibition of any action that could harm the protected species present on the sites. Trails exist on the sites of the Croix Sainte Anne (Rocroi), the Gué d’Hossus marsh, the Hauts Buttés marsh and the Mont d’Haurs grasslands. It is preferable not to leave the marked trails.

Regulations by site:

Biological Reserve

Source de l'Ours

All year

Yes, on the trail