Grand Marais (german: Grosses Moos) in
Seeland is a region in
Switzerland, at the foot of the first mountain range of the
Jura Mountains contained by the three lakes of
Morat (Murten),
Neuchâtel and
Bienne (Biel). Before the huge hydrological works
Jura water correction, it was a
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
that covered . Before the correction the entire Grand Marais, along with the whole of Seeland was prone to very severe recurring floods.
After the Jura water correction, the former marshland has become very valuable
agricultural land
Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with ...
and made the whole area the most important region in Switzerland for growing
vegetables
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems ...
.
The main town and centre of vegetable trading is
Müntschemier.
There are two
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
s with surrounding agricultural compounds: Bellechasse (
Witzwil
The Justizvollzugsanstalt Witzwil (Prison Witzwil) is a men's prison in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It consists of a closed part and a number of minimum security habitation units. The prisoners work on the institution's huge farm estate on t ...
) and
St. Johannsen.
External links
*
*
Anstalt Massnahmezentrum St. JohannsenETH-UNS Case Study «Perspektive Grosses Moos – Wege zu einer nachhaltigen Landwirtschaft»
{{Coord, 46, 58, 39, N, 7, 06, 36, E, region:CH-BE/CH-FR_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
Geography of Switzerland