The Pré des Nonnettes, a Regional Nature Reserve at Marchiennes

The Pré des Nonnettes is a Regional Nature Reserve. The area belongs to Marchiennes, a commune of the Regional Nature Park. The commune signed an agreement with the Scarpe-Escaut Joint Association to undertake the management of the site.

The meadow is small, covering just less than 20 hectares. Situated at Marchiennes, within the Vivier marsh area, it contains 400 hectares of varied biotopes including marshes with ponds and small lakes, wet grasslands, woods and clusters of poplar trees. Local scientists have for a long time thought that the Pré des Nonnettes is a rare and threatened environment.

The exceptional flora and fauna (both vertebrate, in particular birds, and invertebrate, molluscs, odonates and other insects) found at the site led to it being designated as a ‘Natural Area of Ecological Interest for Flora and Fauna’ (ZNIEFF) in 1988. In 1992 it was included in the ‘Regional Plan for the Protection of Natural Environments and Landscapes’ and in 1998 it became part of the Natura 2000 network. In 2008 it obtained the status of Voluntary Nature Reserve, then of Regional Nature Reserve.

The Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, the appointed manager of the site, ensures the implementation of a management plan. It carries out maintenance and restoration works, monitors species and coordinates relationships between different users (hunting groups, nature conservation groups, representatives of the commune). In the areas that are straightforward and easy to access, the grass is cut each year by a local farmer. Other areas are cut by Park technicians using specialist equipment.

The environmental and land management operations employed at the site aim to ensure the continued existence of the natural habitats found there, creating the favourable conditions necessary to maintain and develop local species.