The ''Plateau des Mille étangs'' (literally : "Thousand Ponds Plateau") is a geographical area of more than 220 km2 located in the northeast part of the
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.[french region
France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collecti ...]
of
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...
.
At the end of the
Last Glacial Period, 12,000 years ago, the retreat of the Moselle glacier overflowing above the
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
formed deepening in the primary basement which covered the region favoring the formation of peatlands, swamps in three plateaus of different altitudes. In the Middle Ages, the space was transformed by Man, who developed fish farming there by developing ponds. These water reserves were then used in the 19th and 20th centuries by the local textile and paper industries.
At the beginning of the 21st century, this region, mostly covered with forest, is of environmental interest due to its wetlands which are home to remarkable biotopes adapted to a cold and humid environment. This Thousand Ponds region is recognized as a
(ZNIEFF), it is largely included in 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, respectively ...
Le plateau des Mille Étangs, Natura 2000
Inventaire national du patrimoine naturel (INPN) area and in the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park
The Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges'') is a protected area of woodland, pasture, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the regions of Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté i ...
; to the south is the Grande Pile peat bog regional nature reserve. The Thousand Ponds also have a tourist interest by its landscapes which are worth to him the nickname of "Little Finland" by analogy with the " Thousand Lakes" Finnish.
Plateau des Mille Etangs 3.jpg, Forest
Etang proche Conchotte- Esmoulières 70.jpg, Meadow with ballon de Servance
Ballon may refer to:
Places
*Ballon, County Carlow (''Balana'' in Irish), a village in Ireland
*Grand Ballon, the apex of the Vosges Mountains in France
*Ballon, Charente-Maritime, France
*Ballon, Sarthe, France
Others
*Ballon (ballet), the appe ...
in the background
Ecromagny, l'île de l'étang du Pré aux Lièvres.jpg, Typical pond with fisherman's hut
2020-05 - Étang des Grands Prés - 04.jpg, Grands Prés ponds at La Voivre
References
External links
Mille Étangs tourism web site in english
{{coord missing, France
Tourist attractions in Haute-Saône
Landforms of Haute-Saône