It’s a shame in the country of George Sand! The ponds disappear over the years. It is a natural phenomenon: they fill up and their water level decreases. But this has an impact on biodiversity. The “Objectif MARES” project (Mobilization for amphibians and the restoration of their ecosystems) was launched by France Nature Environnement and the associations with which the organization works.
Participatory projects are therefore taking place to restore ponds. This is particularly the case in Mers-sur-Indre, where a clean-up operation consisted of cleaning the Courtioux pond. “This site is one of the 39 projects selected in the regionsays Hervé Brulé, director of the DREAL (Department of the environment, development and housing) in Centre-Val-de-Loire. In total, more than 240,000 euros are invested in safeguarding these ponds”.
90% of ponds have disappeared since the last century
Feet in the water, a few volunteers pull out the cattails, a kind of reeds, which have accumulated at the bottom of the water and threaten to block the pond. Indeed, if they are not maintained, the ponds end up clogging. “The leaves of the trees fall, all the vegetation falls to the bottom of the water, it rots, the amount of silt increases and the water height eventually decreasesexplains Daphné Marques, biodiversity coordinator at France Nature Environnement Centre-Val-de-Loire. The species that normally stay at the edges finally come inside and cover the water of the pond..
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Consequence: the ecosystem changes and disturbs the frogs, newts, salamanders, as well as the dragonflies and damselflies that live there. To restore these ponds, the site volunteers do not remove all of the cattails in order to create different depths and thus allow the development of several species.
“Since the last century, we have lost 90% of our ponds, adds Maria Villalta, wildlife officer at Indre Nature. They are emblematic places of the historical heritage of Berry and emblematic by the treasures and the richness of their biodiversity”. Another advantage of the ponds: they make it possible to collect runoff water and to limit the risk of flooding.