This is one of the most surprising and endearing places in the Laonnois region, combining dry moorland and wet peat bogs in the same area, ‘one of the richest peat complexes in terms of plant species in the Paris Basin, and perhaps even in all the plains of Western Europe’, according to the Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels (CEN) des Hauts-de-France, to put it mildly!
An atypical natural environment much studied by botanist and researcher Marcel Bournérias, with numerous microclimates, where it is not uncommon for the temperature to drop to around zero degrees in the middle of summer...
A number of signposts on site will help you to appreciate the incredible diversity of flora and fauna.
And this marvel is only a few cubits from Laon, so get out and explore!
Classified as a Natura 2000 site, and subject to a rigorous maintenance programme, this is of course a particularly fragile site, and one that needs to be respected during your walk...
For more information, contact the Association pour le Développement de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement sur l'Environnement (ADREE) based in Barenton-Bugny (T 03 23 23 40 77 | naturagora.fr]