Brittany: a new biological reserve inaugurated in Côtes-d’Armor to preserve biodiversity

A land of legend(s), and now also, of biodiversity… About fifteen kilometers west of the town of Guingamp, more precisely between Belle-Isle-en-Terre, Louargat and Loc-Envel (Côtes-d ‘Armor), the national forest of Coat an Hay benefits from a new protection status. Already classified as “Natura 2000”, it is today one of the “managed biological reserves” (RBD).

Specific to public forests, the status of “biological reserve” has existed since the 1950s. At the beginning of February 2023, the national network had nearly 250, covering more than 54,000 hectares in mainland forests and more than 86,000 ha in the departments. Overseas (National Forestry Office).

Among them, we distinguish managed biological reserves (RBD), where the ONF applies specific management for the conservation of rare and vulnerable species or natural environments, and integral biological reserves (RBI), withdrawn from forestry and constituting valuable witnesses of the forest in natural evolution (Ministry of Agriculture). In both cases, it is a “strong protection”.

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In Coat an Hay, preserve the peat bog

At Coat an Hay, the objective is to preserve the peat bog, that is to say a wetland colonized by vegetation in an environment saturated with water – an ecosystem characterized as its name indicates by the presence of peat, fossil plant material poor in oxygen within which the decomposition of organic matter is slowed (National Museum of Natural History).

Through these specific conditions, peatlands host species that only exist in this habitat (MNHN). The site “Rivière Léguer – Forests of Beffou, Coat an Noz and Coat an Hay”, is home to fragile dragonflies and damselflies (Leste des bois, Peaceful Æschne, Common Clubtail, Clawed Clubtail, Black Sympetrum) as well as amphibians at “high heritage value” such as the Alpine Newt and the Marbled Newt, among others (Natura 2000).

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However, the Coat an Hay peat bog, one of the last groups in the Léguer valley, has in recent years been in the process of closing and drying out due to progressive colonization by woody plants, or plants made of wood (FEADER 2018 project). -2020 – NFB). The objective was to slow down this forest dynamic by cutting down young trees (birches, willows and buckthorns).

10% of the national territory under strong protection

“The creation of the Coat an Hay reserve is fully in line with the Government’s action, which is pursuing an environmental policy as close as possible to the reality of the territories. We will act tirelessly to preserve the forests and the biodiversity they shelter everywhere in our country”declared the Secretary of State for the Sea and Biodiversity Hervé Berville who came to inaugurate the reserve (press release).

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The National Protected Areas Strategy provides for an objective of classifying 10% of the national territory under strong protection (French Biodiversity Office). The new reserve is also part of the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy – of which GEO had carried out a decryption.