Water, water, everywhere!
The Scarpe, the Escaut… a watery history
The presence of marshy land led, from the 7th century onwards, to the digging of drainage ditches to prepare the soil for agricultural use. The water flowed into a network of artificial canals which became tributaries of the Scarpe and the Escaut (Décours, Traitoire, etc.).
The juxtaposition of wetland areas results in various levels of vegetation and biological activities.
This diverse range of environments provides habitats suitable for stopovers and even nesting by numerous birds.
Peat bogs, marshes, ponds, mining subsidence, forests, meadows: all these environments are dependent on water and home to abundant fauna and flora. They require protective measures to preserve their biological assets, which are often fragile:
• national biological reserves (Mare à Goriaux, etc.)
• voluntary nature reserves (Vred peat bog, Pré des Nonnettes in Marchiennes, etc.)
• measures related to the agricultural sector for the maintenance of wet grasslands at the spa town of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.
