1. Marais du Contenin et du Bessin ( To view location on itinerary map click here)
General
The first of the wetlands that I visited was Marais du contentin et du bessin in Normandy, France. This is a wetland approximately 58,000 hectares in size and very similar to the Somerset Levels and Moors, with which it is twinned in the UK. The park contains approximately 30,000 hectares of wetland floodplain and peat bog, coastal polders and two estuaries. Approximately 10,000 hectares of the park is regarded as wetland zone, made up of the Cotentin and Bessin marshes. Also, much like the Somerset Levels and Moors, the area has an agricultural landscape of small fields bounded by wet ditches; the farms are on the higher ground surrounding the wetland areas, where the landscape is hedged; and it is historically well known for its dairying and apple based alcohol products. The wetland areas have local drainage management boards that work in a similar way to those in the United Kingdom.
Wildlife
The site has 32 separate areas that are designated as Special Areas of Conservation and seven nature reserves. It is important for a variety of wintering, passage and breeding wetland birds including brent goose Branta bernicla, ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula, grey plover Pluvialis squatarola, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, snipe Gallinago gallinago, curlew Numenius arquata and whimbrel Numenius phaeopus. Whilst in the area I saw numerous marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, yellow wagtail Motacilla flava , curlew, lapwing, great white egret Egretta alba, little egret Egretta garzetta and heron Ardea cinerea.
Site visits
Farm Visits
Average farm size in the area seemed to be around 100 cattle. I perceived the farmers to be younger than in the UK, and it was mentioned that payment incentive is such that older farmers are encouraged to retire and pass land to younger farmers. In Normandy the majority of farmers use the local "Normandy Cattle" breed (Click for further information). No farmers had significant worries about weed species, except reed (Phragmites australis) which is controlled by topping twice in the same season. During the 1970s farmers had to reclaim much of the marshes from the reed after just over a quarter of a century of abandonment. This was the result of the German army opening sluice gates to allow the area to flood with sea water as a part of the defences during WWII. The farmers that I met had no significant concerns regarding parasites in the wetland.
All of the farmers were concerned that without subsidy payments, including the agri-environment payments, they would be unable to stay in business. Conservation managers were concerned that the next big challenge for them to maintain the character and wildlife interest of the area would be that of abandonment.
Marias du Motte RWLA Scheme
At Marais du Motte I visited a RWLA scheme that is funded by the water agency (similar to the Environment Agency), where 6 farmers were being paid to hold water levels high throughout the winter and spring across an area of 150 hectares within a 10,000 hectare valley area with only one water level management structure. The scheme was originally set up using EU LIFE funding and had multiple objectives including maintaining the botanical interest of the meadows, the wintering and breeding waterfowl and the pike fisheries. However, in order to operate effectively as a pike fishery, there was a need to maintain a high water level into May, and this was causing problems for the farmers and so the objective had since been dropped. The sward across much of the low lying area of Marais du Motte was a plant species rush pasture with abundant meadow thistle and a range of orchids. The RWLA had several wildfowling hides located across it and was probably well shot over.
Réserve Naturelle du domaine de Beauguillot
This is a
grazing marsh site that is owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral and situated
on the coast at the southern end of Utah Beach. Public access to the site
is limited, but there are some excellent hides and it is possible to make your
way around the outside of the site by bicycle. The grazing marsh is
poldered by fixed dunes that lie between it and the sea. It consists of low lying fields
that are wet and splashy for much of the winter and spring.
However, being well ditched and guttered, and having a very sandy, free
draining, soil,
there is relatively good drainage and the grass looked to be pretty good
fodder. There is no problem of rushes becoming dominant and, as with most
of Marais du contentin et du bessin, there is no marsh ragwort at the site.
Moving inland from the sea, 300 or 400 yards, the soil becomes increasingly peaty and boggy, and the whole character of the fields changes to that of, more botanically diverse, hay meadows surrounded by wet ditches. I was very interested to note that the ditches and ponds at the site are a stronghold for lesser silver water beetle Hydrochara caraboides; a species that is known to occur in only two sites in the UK, one of which is the Somerset Levels and Moors.
The site is grazed, under licence by five local farmers, who are able to use the area for their extensification subsidy payment in a similar way to farmers in the UK.
This site will be of particular interest to visit again, as the reserve had just acquired a further 50 hectares of arable land directly adjacent to the south and so a major wetland restoration project is now underway.