Scarpe and Escaut valleys France's 50th Ramsar site

Bordering on the Belgian border, the Vallées de la Scarpe et de l’Escaut site is a complex of connected ponds, marshes, canals, peat bogs, alluvial and marshy forests, watercourses and aquifers, located between the Scarpe and Escaut rivers. These wetlands constitute an exceptional natural heritage that is easily accessible from Valenciennes. Thanks to their aesthetic value, their landscape quality and the freshness they provide, these natural spaces contribute to psychological well-being, whether you’re walking through them or just contemplating them!

A land of strong character

The parallel evolution of man and nature finds its full expression here: some large bodies of water resulting from mining collapses now play an important role in hosting breeding or migratory avifauna, while the rich abbey past has shaped an abundant network of ditches. The historical and cultural heritage associated with the wetlands reinforces this close relationship.

Conde Sur Lescaut Fortifications Otcvm@claude.waeghemackerhd 60 — ©Fortifications |claude.waeghemacker

©Condé sur L'Escaut Chabaud-Latour |claude.waeghemacker

The gentle refuge of priceless biodiversity

For nature-loving tourists, wetlands offer a recreational and leisure dimension.

Gentle roaming, fishing, boating and other water sports are a source of relaxation, but they also support educational activities: discovery of the dynamics of ecosystem functioning and diversity, nature tourism, and all forms of participation and commitment to help preserve them.

A quick reminder of the benefits of wetlands… Wetlands are indispensable for the infinite benefits they provide to humankind, from freshwater supply to food, flood control, groundwater recharge, climate change mitigation and biodiversity preservation.

They are home to countless species of plants and animals: algae, fish, waterfowl, insects and other wild species abound and flourish in these environments, where some live in a permanent state and others feed, take refuge, rest or stop over during migration and reproduction.

Did you know?

The Scarpe and Escaut Valleys Ramsar site adjoins the Belgian Ramsar site of the Harchies-Hensies-Pommeroeul Marshes, reinforcing the ecological continuity that exists across the border.

A network of footpaths will soon enable visitors to cross the border smoothly from one to the other.

The ponds of Chabaud Latour

Let yourself be charmed by this natural site, one of the richest in the département, which has already seduced a multitude of migrating and year-round resident birds. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a swan land majestically and encounter geese,

©Water games Condé-sur-l'Escaut|Claude Waghemacker

The Canarderie marsh

The Marais de la Canarderie is a traditional agricultural landscape, consisting mainly of wet meadows, but also including a few cultivated fields, ponds, marshy coppices, poplar plantations, etc. The area, located away from towns and main roads, is only accessible via a few rural paths and a hiking trail. The marsh is separated from Condé-sur-l’Escaut by the Chabaud-Latour mining site and its large ponds. It is also separated from the town of Saint-Aybert by the canal, and bordered by the Belgian border.
The landscape, little altered, seems “out of time”.

The Marais de la Canarderie is a generally open area. This visual openness is rare in the Hayne plain, which is characterized by a certain profusion of vegetation.

It allows us to step back and take in landmarks such as the nearby headframe and slag heap of the Chabaud-Latour mining site, and the silhouettes of the hamlets of La Canarderie and Ferme Gosset (Tromont).

This landscape of wet meadows is shaped by water, yet it remains imperceptible: the ditches are very discreet and the canal remains hidden in its wooded setting.

Hiking on the Canarderie circuit

The Val de Vergne marsh Hergnies

The Val de Vergne marsh is a vast wetland area of almost 50 hectares in the Escaut valley, managed by the Regional Nature Park in conjunction with the commune of Hergnies.

In the past, the marsh was part of the Vergne valley, and represented a group of floodplain meadows with vast areas of natural flood expansion, where geese were reared. In the 18th century, the Jard was canalized and the Vergne was developed to drain and dry out the land by discharging the water into the Escaut.

Today, the Marais du Val de Vergne continues to support an agricultural activity now focused on cattle breeding and hay production. It has also acquired an interest as a recreational area, with fishing ponds and numerous walking and hiking trails. Small game hunting is also practiced here. In addition, the marsh is frequented by a number of local associations involved in awareness-raising campaigns on biodiversity and waste management.

The Marais du Val de Vergne is home to a wide variety of plant species and an equally rich fauna. It is home to 65 species of birds, 28 species of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) and over 200 plant species.

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Amaury pond Hergnies

The omnipresence of water marks the identity of this site. The slow natural colonization of the areas managed by the mining activity has resulted in the formation of a large body of water, reedbeds, woodland, meadows and a wet wood. With its many paths, it offers numerous observation points for breeding and wintering avifauna.

From the center of the pond outwards, you can see aquatic plants such as bladderworts and water lilies. Reedbeds are made up of herbaceous plants such as cattail and sedges. Next come the woodlands, the most common species of which are willows.

The marshes of the fosse St-Pierre Thivencelle

Thivencelle l’industrieuse, whose past was marked by mining and the digging of the Condé-Pommerœul canal, is now home to a vast 20-hectare bird nesting area.

Laughing gulls, grebes, kingfishers, shovelers, scaups… More than enough for a bird’s eye view. At the heart of the Ramsar site, the marshes of the fosse Saint-Pierre have been shaped by man, heirs to both the mining operations that stretched out here for almost a century and the digging of the canal ordered by Napoleon Ist.

The observatory, where you can admire the birds with the naked eye or binoculars, is accessed via the towpath running alongside the Condé-Pommerœul canal, where Voies navigables de France (VNF) has undertaken colossal de-silting (1.3 million m3 of sediments are to be extracted) and widening works. Please remain vigilant until the work is completed. Take advantage of weekends to avoid crossing a construction zone, until the site opens up more widely.