Flood meadows in the Marais Poitevin, France

General

National Id:

France_02

Site name:

Sèvre Niortaise et Marais Poitevin

Summary:

Located in the regions Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes, the Marais Poitevin is the 2nd largest wetland in France. About 2000 ha of floodmeadows are owned by local municipalities and commonly managed by local farmers. Such meadows play an important role for water regulation: they contribute to the storage of water during flood events, to groundwater recharge, to the removal of pollutants, etc. In the 1980s, in reaction to their destruction, management agreements between municipalities, the Parc Interrégional du Marais Poitevin and environmental NGOs as well as agreements between municipalities and farmers were signed. They reinforce the traditional agri-environmental management (pluri-specific pastures: cattle, horses, gooses) in order to preserve the numerous services provided by the Marais Poitevin.

The in-depth description of the case study:

cs-fr-2-final_version.pdf

NUTS Code:

Pays de la Loire

RBD code:

FRG

Transboundary:

Data provider:

Guillaume Michel, ACTeon

Source(s):

Les Marais Communaux du Marais Poitevin

Recueil d'expériences: les communaux du Marais Poitevin

NWRM(s) implemented in the case study:

Meadows and pastures

Floodplain restoration and management

Longitude:

-0.8

Latitude:

46.3

Site information

Climate zone:

cool temperate moist

Mean rainfall:

867

Mean rainfall unit:

mm/year

Type:

Case Study Info

Light or indepth?:

In-depth

Vegetation class:

Mostly naturally flooded meadows.

Lessons, risks, implications...

Key lessons:

The Marais Poitevin is the 2nd largest wetland in France. About 2000 ha of floodmeadows are owned by local municipalities and commonly managed by local farmers. Such meadows play an important role for water regulation. For instance, they contribute to the storage of water during flood events, to groundwater recharge, to the removal of pollutants, etc. In the 1980s, in reaction to their destruction, management agreements between municipalities, the Parc Interrégional du Marais Poitevin and environmental NGOs as well as agreements between municipalities and farmers were signed. They reinforce the traditional agri-environmental management (pluri-specific pastures: cattle, horses, gooses) in order to preserve the numerous services provided by the Marais Poitevin.

Success factor(s):

Type	Role	Comments
Other		Sanitary problems at the beginning. Common meadows were seen as responsible for giving pests to cattle.

Financing:

Type	Comments
Private funds	Funds from environmental associations (LPO and WWF): 15 €/year for each hectare of common floodmeadow (450 000 € for the 15 years of the agreement). These supports are for the involved municipalities.
National funds
EU-funds: LIFE+
EU-funds: Rural development funds	Agri-environmental payments for farmers and for the municipalities since 1993 (or 1997 for some of the floodmeadows).

Barrier:

Type	Role	Comments
Other		Close relationship and trust between farmers, municipalities and the PIMP. This is helped by the governance scale (important role of municipalities, direct interaction between municipalities and farmers...).

Driver:

Type	Role	Comments
Other		Common floodmeadows are used as a pasture for 10 centuries. Pasture by multi-specific herds (cattle, horses, gooses) went on because it is a good way to valorize the produced biomass and to maintain ecosystems and landscapes. Soil structure (micro relief) prevented from using machinery for mowing and ecosystem services (flood protection, water purification, role in water circle...) would have been lost if such areas were used for cropping. They are common land owned by municipalities.

Policy, general governance and design targets

Part of wider plan:

Policy pressure:

Policy requirement directive:

Policy impact:

Policy wider plan:

Wider plan type	Wider plan focus	Name	Comments
		Life Nature	Life Nature Project for "the conservation of the most remarkable habitats and species of Marais Poitevin" for the period 2004-2008. In the framework of this project, one action on common floodmeadows has been developed (partnership between the PIMP, LPO, WWF and 16 municipalities). The objective of this action was to maintain and develop floodmeadows in order to ensure the hydrological equilibrium of Marais Poitevin, to improve its role of water purification and to preserve biodiversity and landscapes. Partners supported municipalities (technical and financial supports) for: - Carrying out management plans in order to plan future development and maintenance projects. - Ecological maintenance of floodmeadows in order to improve their ability to welcome remarkable species. - Ecological inventories and scientific monitoring in order to assess the relevance of projects and their benefits for the society. - Awareness actions for inhabitants and users about floodmeadows, their management and their richness.
		Natura 2000	Since 1993

Policy area:

Policy target:

Target purpose
Oher Societal Benefits
Improved Biodiversity
Pollutants Removal
Groundwater Recharge
Increase Water Storage

Design & implementations

Application scale:

Field Scale

Performance timescale:

Immediate

Area (ha):

2000

Area subject to Land use change or Management/Practice change (ha):

2000

Size:

2000

Size unit:

Public consultation:

Contractural arrangements:

Design contractual arrangement:

Arrangement type	Role	Responsibility	Name	Comments
			Aagreement for an agri-environmental management	Since 1989, 18 municipalities have undertaken to maintain common meadows and to respect environmental clauses. In compensation, municipalities receive financial and technical supports.
			agri-environment commitment	Since 1993, common floodmeadows are subject to agri-environmental measures (2nd pillar of the CAP)

Design consultation activity:

Activity stage	Name	Key issues	Comments
	Awareness actions		Awareness actions (for example in the framework of the Life programme) for inhabitants and users.

Design land use change:

Design authority:

Authority type	Name	Comments
Other	Parc Interrégional du Marais Poitevin	The Parc Interrégional du Marais Poitevin (PIMP) is a public organisation bringing together local authorities (85 municipalities, 3 Départements and 2 Régions) of Marais Poitevin. All these authorities are co-signatory of a Territory Agreement which defines strategic guidelines and missions of the Parc. Current areas of activities of the Parc are: natural ressources (agri-environment, protection of biodiversity and ecosystems...), economy and land planing (tourism, architecture, urbanism...), culture and heritage, education. The PIMP is involved intechnical supports (management of breading and health issues on the common floodmeadows...)
	Municipalities	19 Municipalities
	Environmental associations (LPO and WWF)	The LPO (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux) and WWF-France (World Wild Founds - France) are two environmental associations. They are involved in the support of municipalities (15 €/ha/year of common floodmeadow, that is to say 450 000 € for 15 years) They also bring technical support to municipalities (for environmental issues such as biodiversity for instance)
	LPO, association de Défense de l'Environnement en Vendée, l'Union des Marais Mouillés, Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels Poitou-Charentes, WWF-France	They are public or private organisations (sometimes local) working on environmental issues. They are all involved in the Life programme with the PIMP.

Last updated: 18 Jun 2015 | Top

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Flood meadows in the Marais Poitevin, France

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