Head in the bocage

Where Man draws the landscape

A clever landscape association, the bocage is recognized by its checkerboard of plant hedges demarcating meadows and cultivated land. Bocage hedges mark the boundaries of plots which are often of unequal sizes and different shapes. Pasture meadows associated with hedgerows are environments resulting from agricultural systems breeding

Spanning 1 ha, the bocage occupies 900% of the surface area of ​​the Grand Site.
The municipality of Cenves concentrates 50% of these environments, on a sandstone subsoil. In the rest of the territory, the bocage meadows are grouped into 3 sectors: the Arlois valley (in the communes of Leynes and Chasselas) on an alluvial subsoil, the commune of Solutré-Pouilly near the Wood Barn on a sandstone subsoil, and downstream of the valley of the Little Grosne (in the commune of Prissé) on an alluvial subsoil. The meadows here are under great pressure and are in clear decline following their conversion to cultivation.

The characteristics of these meadows vary depending on their location (valley, limestone slope, granite slope, etc.) and their agricultural management method (grazing pressure, mowing regime, etc.). In the Petite Grosne and Arlois valley they are very often organized around the hydrographic network and important linear riparian forests characterized by fragments of alder-ash grove, forest habitat of European interest.

The current state of knowledge does not allow an analysis of the different types of meadows in the territory and their state of conservation. In certain sectors of the commune of Cenves and the commune of Solutré-Pouilly, the meadow systems seem better preserved with the presence of a dense hedgerow and agricultural practices more favorable to the expression of plant communities ofpatrimonial interest (thin hay meadows).

Threatened ecosystems

Grassland ecosystems are environments rich in ordinary biodiversity. Often relictual and fragmented on the territory, they are nevertheless essential.
Le bocage network plays a vital role in the proper functioning of natural balances. Associated with meadows, it forms a green frame ensuring essential ecological and agricultural functions: habitats of heritage interest, such as wet area (wetlands, riverine forests) or ponds favorable to certain plant and animal species, ecological corridors, biological cycle of certain animal and plant species (odonates, lepidoptera, orthoptera, amphibians, birds, bats), hydraulic functions, limitation of erosion, crop protection, shelter for herds, etc.

For these different reasons, these environments are at the heart of a fort conservation issue on the territory. THE strong pressure that they experience locally alter all of this ecological functionality. Their maintenance and development deserve particular attention. Support and promotion of livestock farming practices contribute to the preservation of bocage meadows.