Natura 2000

on the Grand Site

The Grand Site de France Solutré Pouilly Vergisson includes a Natura 2000 site : the "Calcareous Grasslands of the Mâconnais" (FR2600972). Based on the classification of Natural Areas of Ecological, Faunistic and Floristic Interest (ZNIEFF), the Natura 2000 area is divided into five sections, spread across the territory, and covers approximately 160 hectares. These calcareous grasslands, associated with forests , boxwood groves, cliffs, and scree slopes, have been listed as Sites of Community Importance since 2002.

A Natura 2000 site benefits from the implementation of preservation and management measures . The Single Management Document defines, within the framework of public policies promoting biodiversity and landscape , the guiding principles for the actions undertaken. Developed collaboratively with local stakeholders, it presents an assessment, sets objectives for preserving natural and landscape heritage, and outlines a 10-year action plan.

Limestone lawns

State of play

The lawns of the Macon coast are in a good overall state of conservation, but they only represent 25% of the surface area of ​​the entities today. The surface of dry lawns has regressed for the benefit of shrubby formations, particularly tube. The colonization of woody trees favored the fragmentation and the fragmentation lawns. Certain sectors find themselves isolated “in the form of clearings” and are disconnected from other lawn entities.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, actions have been undertaken for the conservation of these environments as part of the Life Program « Forests and associated habitats of limestone Burgundy », then the implementation of the Site Objectives Document Natura 2000 with the support of Burgundy Natural Areas Conservatory. 

To guarantee their conservation, preservation efforts for these habitats remain necessary. The grasslands of the Côte Mâconnaise, in addition to their intrinsic value, are part of a much larger network of calcareous grasslands across the region and play a major role as ecological corridors . In the far south of Burgundy, they act as a "hinge" between the grasslands of the Côtes Dijonnaises and Chalonnaises to the north and the Rhône Valley to the south.

Principles of maintaining limestone lawns

Extensive grazing

To combat the degradation and disappearance of calcareous grasslands through progressive scrub encroachment in an environmentally sound and sustainable way, grazing and mowing remain the best solutions. Across all sites, they allow for the maintenance of grasslands and contribute to their economic value for farmers (for example, through hay production). Implementing pastoral management must consider various parameters to ensure optimal management of these environments: the choice of animal type (sheep, horses, etc.), breed, number of animals, grazing area, type of vegetation present, quantity of forage resources, soil fragility, required pastoral equipment (fencing, watering troughs, etc.), and the timing and duration of grazing.

Developing a grazing plan, in conjunction with agricultural partners, allows us to define the methods of intervention that meet agroecological objectives.

The mowing

On some sites, mechanical intervention may be appropriate, and mowing is a feasible option. To allow wildlife to escape, late mowing is carried out in concentric circles from the center of the plot outwards.

Pastoral and mechanical management allows for the continued restoration and maintenance of the limestone grasslands within the Grand Site. Most often within the framework of agricultural partnerships, actions are implemented across all sites. For example, when shrub thickets become too dense, mechanical restoration through mulching is necessary. This is a prerequisite for establishing grazing, but it also helps to reconnect the grasslands to facilitate animal movement.

Since 2002, on the Roche de Solutré and Mont de Pouilly, Konik Polski grazing horses have maintained the grasslands. These hardy horses, descendants of the Tarpan, are an excellent management tool and offer the many visitors a spectacle steeped in history. A grazing plan governs the operation carried out by the municipality of Solutré-Pouilly and the Grand Site.

Regular follow-ups

To best manage natural environments and protect their biodiversity, it is important to understand them well. Monitoring their evolution in relation to the measures implemented allows us to assess their effectiveness.

The ecological monitoring make it possible to evaluate the evolution of natural environments, to locate and characterize the stations of protected or heritage species. They enrich the data library concerning more unknown faunal groups. New issues can thus potentially be discovered.
The technical follow-ups, in relation with partners, are also necessary to support them in the management of sites and guarantee the successful completion of scheduled work. These measures serve to ensure traceability of management operations and the variation of Single management document in compliance with the recommendations. Monitoring management practices makes it possible to adapt them, adjust or reorient them if necessary.
At the same time, as part of the Habitats Directive Fauna Flora, “state of conservation assessments” are regularly carried out on Natura 2000 sites. On the Grand Site, this assessment, carried out in two stages, focused on the state of natural habitats limestone lawns then on an indicator linked to day butterflies.

Tools

The implementation of the action program is possible thanks to the Natura 2000 tools .

• The Natura 2000 contracts allow the financing of operations in favor of the restoration or maintenance of natural habitats. They are aimed at the owners or rights holders of the plots located within the site.
• The Agro-environmental and climate measures (MAEC) are aimed at farmers and aim to perpetuate the extensive agricultural practices at the origin of these environments, through mowing or grazing.
• La Natura 2000 Charter, currently being validated, is aimed on the one hand at owners and on the other hand at leisure users of the site for a voluntary commitment in favor of biodiversity.

A regulatory framework has also been defined to prevent impacts on the biodiversity of Natura 2000 sites. Projects or events that may affect habitats of community interest are therefore subject to an impact assessment.

As part of the Natura 2000 system, funding also allow the realization office assessment of the conservation status of habitats and species of community interest.
Every year, a Monitoring committee of the Natura 2000 site meets to present the progress of the actions of the past year to elected officials and stakeholders in the region. 

an essential partner

Since its creation in 1986, the Burgundy Natural Areas Conservatory, an association under the 1901 law recognized as being of general interest, works to preserve Burgundian biodiversity. It is part of a national federation of Conservatories of natural spaces present in France.
The Conservatory's mission is to:

• know and understand natural environments and species to better preserve them,
• manage and maintain natural environments through techniques respectful of biodiversity,
• protect sites by becoming the owner or administrator of agricultural parcels,
• To raise awareness citizens to preserve nature and discover the riches of the region,
• support local actors and public policies in favor of biodiversity.

In December 2013, the State and the Regional Council approved the Conservatory under article L.414-11 of the Environmental Code. They recognize the interest of his actions and affirm their support for him.
The Conservatory today manages more than 180 sites, representing approximately 5700 hectares spread across Burgundy, including three of the four national nature reserves. These are plots of land that he acquired or belonging to communities, or private individuals, who wished to entrust him with their management within the framework of partnership agreements. The environments concerned are very varied. Forests, peat bogs, heaths, marshes, wet meadows or calcareous lawns are the subject of the attention of around thirty employees with a strong territorial anchor thanks to the presence ofone antenna per department.
These sites have a ecological interest recognized at regional, even national or European level. The vast majority of them are part of the network Natura 2000 or benefit from protection status or classification as species or natural environments.