Cousseau dunes and wetlands
Restoring trophic chains through grazers and coprophagous species
Natural grazing by feral bovines was once prevalent on the dunes, moors and marshes of the French south-west coast. Historically, local people would go to the dunes every spring to collect calves for their various needs (traction, meat, etc.). These feral bovines were of a local breed known as the “Marine Landaise”, which is phenotypically close to traditional breeds of south-west Europe such as the Monchina, Aubrac, etc. During the 19th century, the development of large intensive pine plantations (Pinus pinaster) has deeply modified habitats and landscapes (with soil drainage, coastal dunes fixation) and local people lost access to grazing commons. These deep changes in the ecosystems and social practices (including hunting, tree plantation management, associated laws) led to the widespread elimination of the feral cattle.
SEPANSO, which manages the Nature Reserve of Etang de Cousseau has been experimenting the restoration of natural grazing with this breed since 1990 when it purchased the last herd of Marine Landaise with the help of a WWF France fund. Genetically “reinforced” by the introgression of a few external genes (in particular with a male of the Monchina breed imported from the Spanish Basque Country), this breed was redeveloped as a rustic grazer on the Nature Reserve and on other regional partner sites when the reserve carrying capacity was judged to be exceeded. The reserve is seeking to work with neigbouring forest owners (both public and private) to develop natural grazing on a larger scale and to continue the conservational aspect of the program to save the breed from extinction.
The SEPANSO and the Aquitaine Breeds Conservatory jointly assume the administrative and genetic responsibility for this breed, which was identified and recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2018. Our natural grazing initiative therefore serves two purposes: natural grazing in the reserve, and the conservation of a rare almost extinct breed.
A secondary objective is to let the sex-ratio of the cows balance itself over the years so that they find all the social and feeding behaviors close to the wild.
Red deer, roe deer and wild boar are already present. We want to restore populations of wild rabbits for their essential functional role in the diversification of natural habitats. Other key species could be reintroduced, such as the Osprey.
The ultimate goal is to be able to complete the guild of large herbivores with the European Bison.
For large carnivores, we are impatiently awaiting the natural arrival of the wolf.
- Restoration of 500 ha of sandy-peaty marshes and wet moors (natural grazing, mulching).
- Ongoing forest restoration on 150 ha (reduction of artificial densities of pines planted in the 1960s-70s) .
- Free forest development over 150 ha when the softwood-hardwood mixture is balanced.
- Rescue of an old breed of feral cow: the Marine-Landaise and partnership with similar sites for management by Marine Landaise natural grazing.
Natural grazing by feral bovines was once prevalent on the dunes, moors and marshes of the French south-west coast. Historically, local people would go to the dunes every spring to collect calves for their various needs (traction, meat, etc.). These feral bovines were of a local breed known as the “Marine Landaise”, which is phenotypically close to traditional breeds of south-west Europe such as the Monchina, Aubrac, etc. During the 19th century, the development of large intensive pine plantations (Pinus pinaster) has deeply modified habitats and landscapes (with soil drainage, coastal dunes fixation) and local people lost access to grazing commons. These deep changes in the ecosystems and social practices (including hunting, tree plantation management, associated laws) led to the widespread elimination of the feral cattle.
SEPANSO, which manages the Nature Reserve of Etang de Cousseau has been experimenting the restoration of natural grazing with this breed since 1990 when it purchased the last herd of Marine Landaise with the help of a WWF France fund. Genetically “reinforced” by the introgression of a few external genes (in particular with a male of the Monchina breed imported from the Spanish Basque Country), this breed was redeveloped as a rustic grazer on the Nature Reserve and on other regional partner sites when the reserve carrying capacity was judged to be exceeded. The reserve is seeking to work with neigbouring forest owners (both public and private) to develop natural grazing on a larger scale and to continue the conservational aspect of the program to save the breed from extinction.
The SEPANSO and the Aquitaine Breeds Conservatory jointly assume the administrative and genetic responsibility for this breed, which was identified and recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2018. Our natural grazing initiative therefore serves two purposes: natural grazing in the reserve, and the conservation of a rare almost extinct breed.
A secondary objective is to let the sex-ratio of the cows balance itself over the years so that they find all the social and feeding behaviors close to the wild.
Red deer, roe deer and wild boar are already present. We want to restore populations of wild rabbits for their essential functional role in the diversification of natural habitats. Other key species could be reintroduced, such as the Osprey.
The ultimate goal is to be able to complete the guild of large herbivores with the European Bison.
For large carnivores, we are impatiently awaiting the natural arrival of the wolf.
- Restoration of 500 ha of sandy-peaty marshes and wet moors (natural grazing, mulching).
- Ongoing forest restoration on 150 ha (reduction of artificial densities of pines planted in the 1960s-70s) .
- Free forest development over 150 ha when the softwood-hardwood mixture is balanced.
- Rescue of an old breed of feral cow: the Marine-Landaise and partnership with similar sites for management by Marine Landaise natural grazing.