Haute vallée de la Sarthe
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Haute Vallée de la Sarthe translated as the Upper Sarthe Valley is a Natura 2000 conservation area that is 3,503 hectares in size.[1]
Geography
The area is an Alluvial plain in a valley that commonly floods in winter.[1] It is mainly consisted of sparse natural meadows crossed by a very developed hydrographic network (numerous tributaries, ditches).[2]
It is spread across 29 different communes within the Orne department and 4 within the Sarthe department;[1]
- Alençon
- Barville
- Bazoches-sur-Hoëne
- Bures
- Buré
- Cerisé
- Champeaux-sur-Sarthe
- Chenay
- Coulonges-sur-Sarthe
- Hauterive
- Héloup
- Laleu
- Mahéru
- Mesnières-en-Bray
- Mieuxcé
- Moulins-le-Carbonnel
- Moulins-la-Marche
- Le Ménil-Broût
- Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe
- Le Plantis
- Saint-Agnan-sur-Sarthe
- Saint-Aubin-de-Courteraie
- Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei
- Saint-Germain-du-Corbéis
- Saint-Julien-sur-Sarthe
- Saint-Léger-sur-Sarthe
- Saint-Martin-des-Pézerits
- Saint Paterne - Le Chevain
- Sainte-Scolasse-sur-Sarthe
- Semallé
- Valframbert
- Villeneuve-en-Perseigne
- Les Ventes-de-Bourse
Some parts of this Natura 2000 site are within the Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park.[3]
Conservation
The conservation area has nineteen species listed in Annex 2 of the Habitats Directive;[4]
- Northern crested newt
- European bullhead
- Cottus perifretum
- Brook lamprey
- European bitterling
- Great capricorn beetle
- Marsh fritillary
- Jersey tiger
- European stag beetle
- Hermit beetle
- Narrow-mouthed whorl snail
- Desmoulin's whorl snail
- Western barbastelle
- Eurasian otter
- Bechstein's bat
- Geoffroy's bat
- Greater mouse-eared bat
- Greater horseshoe bat
- Lesser horseshoe bat
In addition the Natura 2000 site has 7 habitats protected under the Habitats Directive.[4]