Remeandring of river Lemme where crossing a fen, Jura Plateau

Remeandring of river Lemme where crossing a fen, Jura Plateau

Le pôle relais tourbières Pôle-relais tourbières (French Mire Resource Centre) It was created in 2001 during the 1st National Action Plan for Wetlands; its action goes on with support of the National Board for Water and Aquatic Habitats (ONEMA), the Min. of Ecology, Region Franche-Comté etc. - A network of 60 correspondants all over France - 15 scientific advisors regularly consulted. Its aims are: - Gathering and making info about mires available - Promoting the sustainable management of peatlands, in contact with the different professions and stakeholders - Collaborating with the measures and programmes led at the national level for wetlands It s managed by the Federation of French Natural Areas Conservancies, federating 30 NGO in charge of 2884 sites (1471 km2)

Le pôle relais tourbières Pôle-relais tourbières (French Mire Resource Centre) Some of our concrete actions Vocational training, meeting with professionals A specialized library open to the public in Besançon, near Switzerland Seminaries organized about topics of regionally Increasing public awareness : exhibitions Technical documents published and diffused

Le pôle relais tourbières Pôle-relais tourbières Newsletters and communication Our newsletter, 8 issues a year Le bulletin d information documentaire du Pôle-relais tourbières Directories on different topics: - List of exhibitions, - Labs working on mires, - Companies doing restoration works, - Peat-free gardening «L Echo des tourbières», paper journal (2000 copies +/-) A richly fed website (few in English!): www.pole-tourbieres.org

Les pôles relais zones-humides Other Wetlands resource centres They work for the wetlands types other than mires Marshes on the Atlantic coasts: flooded plains in Picardy A resource centre common to : inland wetlands: lac du Der shores [Champagne] Mediterranean lagoons: Otrisconi estuary [Corsica] small ponds, : salted inland ponds in Lorraine and alluvial valleys: the Loire in Orléans Mangroves and Overseas wetlands: Kaw marshes [French Guiana] Resource centre regularly meet together and with ONEMA, for a coordinated action. They feed a common «water portal»: www.zones-humides.eaufrance.fr/

Inventories of mires Mires in France Mires occupy more than 1000 km2 (250 000 acres) in the European part of France Their inventory by PRT and conservancies with support of Min. of Ecology, was limited to the regions in red on the map, due to lack of means. In green, other main mires. Source : SOeS et Pôle-relais tourbières 2014; each dot is a mire, scale not respected

Inventories of mires Mires in France Mires occupy more than 1000 km2 (250 000 acres) in the European part of France Their inventory by PRT and conservancies with support of Min. of Ecology, was limited to the regions in red on the map, due to lack of means. In green, other main mires. Source : SOeS et Pôle-relais tourbières 2014; each dot is a mire, scale not respected

Protection of mires Sites including peatlands, managed by Conservancies members of FCEN Mires protection Largely recognized by N2000, mires are subject to legal measures : NR, «APPB», Several conservancies bought or hired lands where they exist, sometimes in the frame of regional action plans Source: FCEN, January 2011 ; each dot is a mire, scale not respected

Mire restoration Rehabilitation and restoration programmes Remaining mires often are in a bad state of conservation, their functionality being depleted. In the 80 and 90 s, works mainly concentrated on symptoms : cutting trees, removing shrubs to favour rare plants and animals, mowing and grazing. From left to right : Morvan, Savoy x2 Even if not abandoninig these methods, focus is now put on functional (hydrological) restoration Dam to re-wet a mire, Franche-Comté

Mire restoration Rehabilitation of mires in the volcanic parts of Central Massif Ribains: no peat extraction but deep drains and overgrazing La Sauvetat: 30 years of peat extraction France Tourbière de Ribains Tourbière de la Sauvetat

Mire restoration The mire in La Sauvetat maar: Ecological rehabilitation and opening to the public Works for 550 000 + taxes, led by Département de Haute-Loire and Landos municipality with help of the European Union regional funds and the French State. These works in La Sauvetat opened after 15 years the way to an intervention in Ribains Pathes made accessible for disabled and blind people

Mire restoration LIFE programme «Tourbières du Jura» «Functional rehabilitation of mires in the Jura mountains of Franche-Comté» BUDGET : 8,051,163, UE 50% Biggest LIFE Nature programme ever held in France DURATION : 01/06/2014-30/11/2020 COORDINATOR : Conservancy of Natural Areas of Franche-Comté (NGO) + 5 associated beneficiaries www.life-tourbieres-jura.fr France - Drains to be filled : 16,000 m - Waterways restoration: 11,000 m - Regeneration after peat extraction : 26 ha - Other tree- or bush-cutting works : 57 ha Switzerland 510 ha of peatlands habitats on 60 mires will be significantly improved. Impact on EU prioritary species habitats: Saxifraga hirculus, Liparis loeselii, Porzana porzana, Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Maculinea nausithous, Euphydrias aurinia, Lycaena helle, etc.

Francis Muller, Pôle-relais tourbières, Fédération des conservatoires d espaces naturels, MEFC, 7 rue Voirin, F-25000 Besançon Tel. ++33 (0)3 81 81 78 64 E-mail : francis.muller@reseau-cen.org www.pole-tourbieres.org Merci de votre attention! Parc national des Pyrénées