Policy description:
The Léguer River is labelled a Wild River. Its catchment area is one of the most hedgerow territory in Brittany, with an average 150 meters of hedge per hectare. However, this hedgerow has been gradually eroded as a result of agricultural mechanization and land consolidation, as well as the phasing out of hedge and slope maintenance seen as a cost without any benefit. This decline was estimated at a loss of 3 linear meters per hectare per year.
The main objective of the project was to improve water quality and control erosion. Limiting runoff allows water to stay longer before reaching the watercourses, giving time to natural processes to occur to purify the water by soil microorganisms or light.
Secondly, the restoration of hedged land is of interest for biomass supply, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, renewable wood production, for the wind-breaking role of hedges, livestock protection and landscape restoration.