The Forêt d'Orient (Orient Forest) National Nature Reserve (RNN154) is a national nature reserve located in

Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of the ...

in the

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

region in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Located within the

Orient Forest Regional Natural Park Orient Forest Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional de la Forêt d'Orient'') is a protected area of woodlands and lakes in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It covers a total area of The parkland encompasses the large ...

, it was created in 2002 and protects 1,560 hectares of lake and forest areas.

Localisation

The territory of the nature reserve is located in

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

department in

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of Amance, Brévonnes, Mathaux, Piney and Radonvilliers within

and 25 km east of

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. It includes part of the Orient, Amance and Temple lakes.

History of site and reserve

The Great Seine Lakes were created from the 1960s to protect

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from floods. Their completion in the 1990s allowed the establishment of peripheral natural environments linked to their presence. The protection of these environments was ensured by the creation of the nature reserve in 2002.

Ecology (biodiversity, ecological interest, etc.)

The interest in the site arises from its location on the migratory routes of several species of waterbirds. There are three main types of environment: * lake environments with a fluctuating water level which generates areas of

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s; *

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

environments positioned according to their humidity (meadows, reed beds); * forest environments made up of oaks and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

s. This combination creates very varied habitats.

Flora

The variations in the water level of the lakes, and the areas of mudflats that result from them, generate very rich environments sheltering an

aquatic Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live. Aquatic(s) may also refer to: * Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...

flora. There are remarkable species such as ''Ranunculus lingua'' and ''Pulicaria vulgaris.''

Wildlife

There are around 40 species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s frequenting the site. There are also 24 heritage species, including 16 species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s. Protected species include the

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

, polecat (''Mustela putorius putorius''),

barbastella ''Barbastella'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats. There are seven extant species in this genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon ...

as well as the

Eurasian otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...

. The site is known for its remarkable bird life linked to aquatic or forest environments. It has more than 200 species, 92 of which are nesting. Among migratory species, we find the

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

, greater white-fronted and greylag geese, Bewick's swan (''Cygnus columbianus bewickii''),

Eurasian teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

common goldeneye The common goldeneye or simply goldeneye (''Bucephala clangula'') is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus ''Goldeneye (duck), Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye. The genus name is derived from th ...

smew The smew (''Mergellus albellus'') is a species of duck and is the only living member of the genus ''Mergellus''. ''Mergellus'' is a diminutive of ''Mergus'' and ''albellus'' is from Latin ''albus'' "white". This genus is closely related to ''Me ...

, etc.

Amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s include the

yellow-bellied toad The yellow-bellied toad (''Bombina variegata'') belongs to the order Anura, the family Bombinatoridae, and the genus of fire-bellied toads. The toad is distributed mainly across western Europe as well as a handful of countries in eastern Eur ...

, the

fire salamander The fire salamander (''Salamandra salamandra'') is a common species of salamander found in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant ...

, and the

Northern crested newt The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt (''Triturus cristatus'') is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to ...

. Three heritage species of

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

are present: the

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non- venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecie ...

, the

slow-worm The common slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a species of legless lizard native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizar ...

and the

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard or common lizard (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara'') is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other non-marine reptile species, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning it give ...

. The site is very rich in

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s (800 inventoried species) and dragonflies.

Touristic and educational interest

The interior of the nature reserve is closed to the public. Sites on the outskirts, such as the Valois observatory, allow visitors to observe the flora and fauna without disturbing them. Trips to the periphery of the reserve as well as articles published in various journals also allow the public to learn about the actions carried out on the reserve. At Maison du Parc, video cameras installed on the site allow visitors to experience the highlights of the reserve

Administration, management plan, regulations

The nature reserve is managed by the

Legal bases and status

The nature reserve was created by a decree of July 9, 2002. Its territory also forms part of the following

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

s: * Zone Ramsar No. 5 "''Etangs de la Champagne humide''", * ZICO no. CA02, * ZNIEFF de type I No. 00639 et de type II No. 00640, * ZPS "''Lacs de la Forêt d'Orient''", * ZSC "''Forêt d'Orient''".

References

{{reflist Protected areas established in 2002 Regional natural parks of France Geography of Aube Tourist attractions in Aube