While the Camargue Natural Park and its enormous UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve are open year-round, the ideal times to come are spring and fall, when hundreds of thousands of migratory birds use the park’s marshes as a stopover.
In particular, this time of year draws bird-watchers to the Camargue from all around Europe. Still, sightseers go there year-round to take in the region’s flora and fauna, especially the hundreds of pink flamingos.
These are most easily viewed at the Camargue ornithological park, a bird sanctuary located just north of Saintes Marie de la Mer, but can be seen all around the park’s shallow bodies of water. In addition to a bird hospital, the center’s miles of pathways are home to a wide variety of waterfowl, such as flamingos, white egrets, and herons.
Large flocks of flamingos nest in the Camargue region’s Etang du Fangassier; the surrounding area is also a significant rice-growing zone of France, especially in and around the Camargue’s largest lake, the Etang de Vaccares.
The history of The Camargue Regional Natural Park in France
Together, the Mediterranean and the Rhone, together with the efforts of the locals, have formed a variety of ecosystems that are unrivaled in their diversity and abundance.
It was in 1859 that a dike was constructed to prevent the Mediterranean Sea’s saline water from rising. It wasn’t until 10 years later that the Rhone was dammed in an effort to save farmable territory from being flooded. To the north of the Park, once-wild landscapes have given way to more agricultural plants, including rice, asparagus, and grapes.
Travel south to see the wild Camargue landscape, complete with ponds and marshes called “sansoures.” Crops are nibbling away at these wilderness areas. And yet, they are crucial to the health of the ecosystem and the stability of this location. The survival of the Camargue bull and white horse breeds depends on the preservation of natural pastures.
A national wildlife preservation association designated the area a National Camargue Reserve in 1927. Since its establishment in 1970 as a Regional Park, it has been under the care of a foundation. Its purpose is to protect native plant and animal species while maintaining cultural practices. Natural Reserve status was not granted to the land north of the Vaccarès pond until 1975.
Camargue wetlands in France
Southern France is home to the alluvial plain known as the Rhône delta (Camargue). The annual evapotranspiration deficit is more than 600 mm, making for a characteristically Mediterranean hot and dry summer.
There are several saltpans, lakes, lagoons, saline and freshwater marshes, and temporary wetlands in the Camargue, making it a large wetland region of worldwide significance (Ramsar site, Man and Biosphere reserve).
More than 400 bird species and many rarer or endemic animals and plants may be found in the Camargue. The aquatic systems get freshwater via rain and water abstraction from the Rhône river for agricultural reasons while being naturally characterized by increased salt levels owing to the presence of the underlying saline aquifer.
In addition to being the biggest wetland in France, the Camargue is also the second largest delta in the Mediterranean, behind the Nile delta. The Camargue is an iconic location in France and Europe because it has been changed by both natural forces and human endeavors over many years, giving rise to a distinct cultural identity and a remarkable natural legacy.
With the Mediterranean Sea at its foot and 80 kilometers of sandy shoreline, the Camargue covers about 150,000 hectares between the gulfs of Aigues-Mortes and Fos.
Final words about The Camargue Regional Natural Park
The Camargue Regional Natural Park covers 85,000 acres of Camargue. White Camargue horses and herds of Camargue bulls relax amid the region’s distinctively fertile plains, salt marshes, and Salicornia moors. Flamingos, those bright pink birds, have settled into the ponds and reed beds. At its peak, the elevation is 4,50 meters making it the highest point in the area.