Lac du Bourget - Marais de Chautagne. 02/02/03; Rhône-Alpes; 5,500 ha; 45°44'N 005°51'E. Proposed Special Protection Area and Site of Community Importance EC Directives. One of the largest French Alpine lakes (4,500 ha). Apart from the lakeside town Aix-les-Bains, more than half of the lake shores remain natural, either rocky or covered with reedbeds (stretching along 11 km shoreline). Tourism and leisure activities are important, but restricted to specific lake areas only. Adjoining the lake outlet are the Chautagne marshes and peatbogs. The submerged lake vegetation and animal communities are very well developed and in good condition. During winter, and especially during cold spells, the lake harbours more than 20,000 waterbirds that also use the nearby part of the Rhône river, including up to 16,000 pochard Aythya ferina (Criterion 6). Bourget lake provides an important spawning area for the fish Coregonus lavaretus (one of the two French top sites), Salvelinus alpinus and Lota lota. Ramsar site no. 1268. Most recent RIS information: 2003.