Par
Juliette Voisin
Published on
Jan 19, 2025 at 7:48 p.m.
Petrol and diesel lighter in hand, the coast guards of La Hague (Channel) set the feu to the vegetation. This action, carried out regularly by the Conservatoire du littoral with the support of firefighterstook place ce Sunday January 19, 2025 on the Thôt moor which overlooks the Vauville pond.
This prescribed burning, also called burning, may be surprising, but it is traditional and completely normal.
Regenerate the heath and avoid fires
Burning vegetation has two interests, as Hugo Leclerc, coastal ranger for the Syndicat Mixte Espaces Littoraux de la Manche (SyMel), explains: “The first interest is to regenerate the vegetation. Without the burnin the long term, the low heather and gorse heath (of Legall and Europe) would become wooded, and it would therefore be less interesting from an ecological point of view. »
Second objective of this arson: “We burn the moor to prevent it from catching fire in summer. »
In July 2022, fires of a rare scale ravaged 25 hectares of moorland at Pierres Pouquelées, a few meters away. A global reflection was then initiated between the Coastal Conservatory, the municipality, the firefighters, the residents, represented by associations such as the Friends of the Lande and the hunting society, to avoid another tragedy.
Burning is a heath management tool. Here, on the Thôt moor, we work in a mosaic with a pasture with two horses, crushed plants, moor… Which gives ecological diversity.
Disappeared practices
Historically, the moor was maintained by the inhabitants themselves. “Ancient practices gradually disappeared: people cut gorse to make firewood, ferns to make cheap bedding, thorns to feed horses. They regularly set fires to make new wood. grass in the spring for their animals. This is why we have these landscapes. All these little activities have disappeared”, explains Sébastien Houillier, coast guard passionate about the history of the Hague.
In winter, for fauna and flora
Christelle Bonnisent, coastal guard, continues: “We have the right to burn between December 15 and March 15. The winter season presents less risk for the animals that live here like the tree frog or the pitchou warbler. Unfortunately, it is very rare to have a good weather window. You want as little humidity as possible. »
-Last year, for example, the weather conditions were not right and no burning was carried out.
This Sunday, despite favorable weather, the humidity was still high and the fire did not catch as much as the coast guards hoped. On 400 hectares of massif, the objective of the day to burn between 3 et 4 was not achieved.
“By the looks of it, we burned half of it. We will take stock when everything is extinguished,” say the three SyMel agents, present all day since 10 a.m., with a thermometer that does not exceed 4 degrees.
“Doing it in winter allows the fauna and flora to quickly recolonize space. In summer, we saw it at Pierres Pouquelées, the ground burns and it is catastrophic for insects, snails, snakes…” adds Sébastien Houillier, third coast guard on the team.
Reassuring for firefighters
Below, the inhabitants of the road la Rignolleteriestill marked by the arson of summer 2022, are warned. Although intentional, the burning is controlled. In addition to the establishment of a firebreak – which takes the form of a linear crushing of plants on either side of the area – an agreement was signed with the Departmental Fire and Safety Service. relief.
“Four firefighters from the Beaumont and Cherbourg centers trained in forest fires with a forest fire tanker are there, in the event of uncontrolled overtaking or jumping fires,” explains firefighter Frédéric Dufour.
The operation is reassuring for the firefighters: “It frees us, we know that here, it won't be able to burn for a few years. »
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