Regional nature reserve: La Massonne

The reserve is located on an ancient maritime gulf shaped by man since antiquity for the exploitation of salt marshes. The marshes were drained by a dense network of canals and ditches in the 17th and 18th centuries to make way for the maintenance of wet meadows by cattle grazing. Today they are home to a wide variety of wetland plants that have become rare. The poorer soils in the southern part of the reserve are occupied by moorland. These exceptional environments are refuges for numerous heritage species such as the pitchou warbler, the gentian pneumonanthe and the sedge flycatcher. There are also very diverse woodlands, depending on the nature of the soil and the hydrometry within the reserve. They consist of alders and ashes in humid environments and evolve into oak forests on drier soils. On the meadows located on the dry sandy slopes of the reserve, a mesophilic type of flora develops, which are privileged places for the laying of eggs by the European cistude. The flora has 600 plant species recorded, including 28 heritage species. It is home to many rare species in Poitou-Charentes, such as the Siberian iris.
The fauna is also remarkable. For example, there are 27 species of dragonflies, 32 species of butterflies and 12 species of insects of heritage interest, such as the Succubus checkerspot and the Alpine rose. The European otter is present on the site, as are 81% of the chiropteran species recorded in Charente-Maritime, making it an exceptional site.

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