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News

2017-10-27

Final event of the LIFE Elia-RTE project in Drôme

The LIFE Elia-RTE site in Drôme (France) comprises three major actions: management by equine grazing, control of invasive species and digging of ponds.

At the end of 2017, it was time to celebrate the end of the project and the work done!

Drôme's site

We have already mentioned this site many times in our news. The agreement relating to the work on this site was signed by the local partners in December 2013. Following the purchase of a 7 ha plot of land within the National Ramières Nature Reserve by the Val de Drôme Community of Communes, the LIFE Elia-RTE project was able to carry out the field actions with the precious help of the local RTE correspondent and the Ramières Reserve team.

In total, 4 ponds were dug within the framework of the LIFE project in a site favourable to the crested newt, a protected species which finds its southern limit of distribution in Drôme.   

About 1 ha of wet grassland is grazed just below the line by horses belonging to a breeder from the municipality of Allex. On this plot, the grazing made it possible to overcome an invasive plant species: the solidage goldenrod.

The site was visited during the IENE symposium on linear infrastructure in August 2016.

Final event of the LIFE project

All the local partners were gathered for the final event of the project on 27 October 2017: RTE (local correspondent, Paris and Lyon representations, maintenance team), the Ramières National Nature Reserve team, the Communauté de Communes du Val de Drôme, the Mairie d'Allex, and the LPO Drôme.

Before a final field visit, the partners agreed on the future management of the site by the Reserve team, notably thanks to funds mobilised by a Natura 2000 contract. Biological inventories will also be continued over time.

The local correspondent had also thought of making a souvenir of the Natura 2000 award won in 2016.

This site is really a good example of mobilizing local partners around a common project. Each of the partners has found an interest in these developments for nature under high voltage lines, proof that dialogue and the search for solutions together make it possible to carry out concrete projects on the ground.