Biodiversity booklet of the Cabanes de La Réserve: nature and forest

🌿 Our biodiversity booklet: an immersion between forest and ponds at La Réserve

At the Cabanes de La Réserve, nature envelops every moment. Between the ponds with their changing reflections and the nearby Laigue forest, the landscape invites you to slow down and observe.

To extend this experience, a biodiversity booklet created by an ecologist accompanies you throughout your stay.
A guide to understanding this place, its history... and all the life that is hidden there.

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🌊 A story shaped by man and nature

The site of the Cabanes de La Réserve has not always been this haven of calm.

Formerly, these lands welcomed agricultural plots, grasslands and swampy areas.

Then, from the Middle Ages and especially from the 1920s, clay was exploited in depth to supply a local brick factory.

Gradually, quarries are widening and expanding... until they completely transform the landscape, even going so far as to make an old farm disappear, which is now almost forgotten.

When exploitation ceases, the cavities naturally fill with water. The ponds are born, the vegetation comes back... and a new landscape is taking shape.

🌳 Nature that is rebuilt, year after year

The woodlands that surround the ponds today are relatively young, but already well established.

The booklet distinguishes two main families:

🌱 The “soft woods”

Willows, poplars, alders...
These pioneer trees quickly colonize banks, stabilize soils, and create refuges for numerous species.

🌿 The “hardwoods”

Oaks, ash trees, elms...
More sustainable, they are gradually installed and shape the landscape over the long term.

This natural dynamic tells us something essential. : nature evolves, adapts and regenerates.

🌸 Discreet flora to observe throughout the seasons

As you walk around the huts, the booklet invites you to spot some iconic plants:

• Wild garlic, in spring, in the undergrowth
• The bee ophrys, surprising in its shape
• The ficaria, which lights up the undergrowth at the end of winter
• Bellflowers, delicate on the edge of the path

Some are common, others rarer... but all contribute to the balance of the place.

🐦 A varied fauna between forest and water

The diversity of the environments - ponds, undergrowth, edges - makes it possible to accommodate a wide variety of species.

🌲 In the woods

You can observe or hear:

• Robin, chickadees, finches
• Nuthatch torchepot
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Black-headed Warbler

A discreet life, often revealed by songs at sunrise.

🌊 Around the ponds

Aquatic environments are also home to a rich fauna:

• frogs, dragonflies and calopteryx
• Passage ducks
• Carp visible from the huts

With a little patience, you can observe these natural scenes from your terrace or during a stroll.

⚠️ Balances to be maintained

The booklet also recalls the presence of exotic species introduced by man:

• Coypu
• Canada goose
• Carp amore

These species can unbalance natural environments by competing with local species or by modifying their habitat.

Understanding these issues, is already contributing to the preservation of this environment.

🌍 Taking concrete action for nature

At the Cabanes de La Réserve, biodiversity is not only observed: it is accompanied.

The booklet presents several concrete actions:

🌱 Restoring natural environments

A forest pond has been restored to promote the reproduction of amphibians, while maintaining certain natural areas.

🍎 Bringing orchards back to life

An orchard of local varieties is being created., renewing the traditions of the territory and offering a refuge for insects and birds.

These actions contribute to the development of the site while respecting its history and its environment.

🤍 An experience in the rhythm of nature

This biodiversity booklet is an invitation to experience your stay in a different way.

Take the time to observe: a bird in the branches, a dragonfly at the edge of the water, the movement of the wind in the trees...

To also feel this simple connection with nature, that makes all the richness of your getaway.

🌿 A break to reconnect with the essentials

At Cabanes de La Réserve, every detail tells a story: that of a place transformed, then found.

The biodiversity booklet, which you will find in your cabin, opens the doors to this universe for you.
It's up to you to explore it... at your own pace.