The peaty part of the marsh, an environment which is extremely rare in France, is created by the accumulation of undecomposed vegetable matter. This forms a very poor soil, which is spongy and of poor bearing surface. The plants that do manage to thrive here are specific to this kind of environment. Because they are so rare, some of them have taken an emblematic status, such as the orchids or certain carnivorous plants such as the sundew. The Regional Nature Park is equipped with a humid zone observatory, where scientists work at drawing up an inventory of the flora and fauna of the Marsh. Only by knowing the full extent of the area natural riches will everybody be able to participate in preserving them.
A protected reserve
In the heart of the peat marsh is the Mannevilles Nature Reserve, owned by the Ministry of the Environment since 1973, and which is managed by the Park. Here you will find around 80 Highland cows and Camargue horses living in the wild. They were brought in some 30 years ago, after scientific work demonstrated how efficient rustic herbivores of this kind were in preserving the humid environment. These "natural bush cutters" were chosen for their ability to resist the cold winters, for their relatively light weight and their rusticity, and they play a key role in the balance of the natural environment.
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