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Sensitive Natural Areas

Open to the public for unaccompanied visits or for tours led by nature guides, Gironde’s Sensitive Natural Areas shelter a heritage of great biological diversity including lagoons of Ice Age origin, salt meadows, and marshes – so many fragile ecosystems that make for fascinating explora...
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Open to the public for unaccompanied visits or for tours led by nature guides, Gironde’s Sensitive Natural Areas shelter a heritage of great biological diversity including lagoons of Ice Age origin, salt meadows, and marshes – so many fragile ecosystems that make for fascinating exploration.
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Lac de Cousseau
CDT33

Arcachon  Basin

Lège-Cap-Ferret

Cap-Ferret Point, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arcachon Basin – discover the fauna and flora of the maritime and dune milieu.

Piraillan

The Piraillan Reservoirs: an area much favoured by the grey heron, and also containing a wide variety of plant life.
Lège-Cap-Ferret Tourist Office
+33 5 56 03 94 49 www.lege-capferret.com

Arès -Andernos

The Domaine de Saint-Brice comprises two small lakes and a forest of maritime pines, willows, oak trees and aspens, and also abounds in gorse, broom, ferns, strawberry trees and heather.
Arès Tourist Office
+33 5 56 60 18 07 www.ares-tourisme.com

Andernos

Andernos jetty – acquaint yourself with the Brant Goose, one of the Arcachon Basin’s most emblematic birds. Andernos
Tourist Office
+33 5 56 82 02 95 www.andernoslesbains.fr

Audenge

Domaine de Certes-Graveyron  Where the salt waters of the Arcachon Basin meet the fresh waters of the Leyre. 
The Domaine de Certes is a paradise for walkers who appreciate the beauty of out-of-the-ordinary maritime landscapes – manmade salt meadows, salt marshes, and fish-farming ponds.
+33 5 56 82 71 79

Le Teich

Leyre Delta: between the Arcachon Basin and the  Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park, this extraordinary, ever-changing area is made up of wet grasslands and reeds, crisscrossed by countless channels.

 

Parc ornithologique du Teich
CDT33

Teich Ornithological Park

Every year, several thousand migratory birds  break their journey in the midst of the park’s 120 hectares. 260 species have been listed, including 80 that nest there, and may be watched from any one of the score of observatories, or while walking the various pathways that take you through the park. At its entrance, the Maison de la Nature du Bassin d’Arcachon has a wide range of discovery activities and guided visits on offer all year round.

Maison de la Nature du Bassin d’Arcachon
+33 5 56 22 80 93 www.parc-ornithologique-du-teich.com

La Teste-de -Buch

Great Dune of Pilat: one of Gironde’s most beautiful panoramic views is to be had from the top of Europe’s highest dune, which rises to a height of 107 metres, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the Arcachon Basin and Arguin Sandbank (at low tide, it’s an altogether breathtaking sight!), as well as Europe’s largest forest.

Teste-de-Buch Tourist Office
+33 5 56 54 63 14 www.tourisme-latestedebuch.fr

 

Médoc

Le Verdon-sur-Mer
Marais du Logit  and Marais du Conseiller: discover the fauna and flora of the dyked marshes.

Ordonnac

Marais de la Maréchale: discover the estuary wetlands’ biodiversity with the Petronille association
+33 5 56 44 81 65

Hourtin

Lagune de Contaut (Contaut Lagoon): a wooden walkway through the heart of the forest enables visitors to acquaint themselves with the species of trees typically found in wetlands. The area is now a biological reservoir for a wide variety of animal species.

The banks of Lake Hourtin: there is a remarkable array of flora and fauna to be observed, flourishing on the shores of  France’s largest lake and surrounded by all the diversity of nature – marshes, dunes, lakes and pine forests.
Hourtin Tourist Office
+33 5 56 09 19 00 www.hourtin-medoc.com

Etang de Cousseau
CDT33 - Jean-Joel Lefur

Lacanau

Etang de Cousseau Nature Reserve

This nature reserve, covering an area of marshland and wooded dunes, contains a wide variety of plant and animal species (including roe deer, birds of prey and otters), and may be explored along marked out pathways either on foot or by bicycle. There are a full 15 km of pathways, along which you may be lucky enough to come face to face with roe deer, birds of prey, otters and migratory birds. You can also visit the reserve in the company of a nature guide (free of charge) from 15 June to 15 September.

SEPANSO
+33(0)5 56 91 33 65 www.sepanso.org

 

South Gironde

Cadaujac

The Garonne Bocage is one of the most extensive areas of bocage in Gironde still preserved.

Association LPO
+33 5 56 91 33 81
The Saucats-La Brède Geological Nature Reserve takes you on a journey back in time – 20 million years back, in fact, when the region was covered by the Atlantic Ocean – to discover sedimentary rocks and fossils of sharks, coral and tropical shells.
+33 5 56 72 27 98 www.rngeologique-saucatslabrede.reserves-naturelles.org

Louchats

The  Gât-Mort Lagoons are made up of clearings and lagoons, lying intact in the midst of the pine forests, and offer moving testimony to the thousand-year history of Gironde’s Grande Lande. The lagoons are of Ice Age origin and are composed of forestland and wetlands that may be explored along a track lined with observation hides.
+33 6 69 01 89 19

Hostens

The Domaine Départemental Gérard Lagors is located on an old lignite surface mine and invites you to take to its marked-out pathways in exploration of its marshland, ponds and lakes.
+33 5 56 88 70 29

Bazas

Lake Prade  is of major  ornithological interest. A footpath leads to an observatory where birdwatchers can enjoy their hobby to the full.

Auros

The Monceau botanical pathway winds through the heart of limestone hillsides where a wide variety of wild orchids  flourishes.
Conservatoire régional des espaces naturels d’Aquitaine
+33 05 53 81 39 57

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