Bassin de l'Andainette () translated as the Andainette basin is a

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

conservation area that is 1,024 hectares in size.

Geography

The area follows the Andainette, which is a tributary of the

Varenne Varenne (foaled in Copparo, Italy, 19 May 1995) is a dark bay racing trotter by Waikiki Beach out of Ialmaz by Zebu. Varenne is considered to be the best trotter of all time. No other trotter has won so many of the most important races in th ...

, which in turn flows into the Mayenne river. The east of the area is woodland, while the west is

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands, northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ' ...

. It is spread across 6 different communes all within three departments the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

and

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

; #

Champsecret Champsecret () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Chesnaie, Les Fourchets, La Botellerie, Le Hamel, Le Tertre, Pont de Pierre, ...

Domfront en Poiraie Domfront en Poiraie (, literally ''Domfront in Pear Orchard'') is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Domfront (the seat), La Haute-C ...

# Dompierre #

Juvigny Val d'Andaine Juvigny Val d'Andaine () is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of La Baroche-sous-Lucé, Beaulandais, Juvigny-sous-Andaine (the seat), ...

Les Monts d'Andaine Les Monts d'Andaine () is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Saint-Maurice-du-Désert and La Sauvagère (the seat). Geography The co ...

# Perrou This protected site is within the

Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park ( Fr.: ''Parc naturel régional Normandie-Maine'') is a protected area of forest and bocage located in the French regions of Normandy and Pays de la Loire. Geography Spanning the departments of Orne, Manch ...

Conservation

The conservation area has four species listed in Annex 2 of the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...

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European bullhead The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bu ...

# Cottus perifretum #

Brook lamprey The brook lamprey (''Lampetra planeri''), also known as the European brook lamprey and the western brook lamprey is a small European lamprey species that exclusively inhabits freshwater environments. The species is related to, but distinct from, ...

White-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...

In addition the Natura 2000 site has eight habitats protected under the

References

{{reflist Natura 2000 in France Geography of Orne