Les Hautes Fagnes

Fagnes en Hivers
Paysage Fagnes wallonnes
Ruisseau Fagnard
Rossolis à feuilles rondes, Drosera rotundifolia

Les Hautes Fagnes

  • Country: 
    Belgium
  • Site number: 
    1405
  • Area: 
    9,974 ha
  • Designation date: 
    24-03-2003
  • Coordinates: 
    50°32'N 06°07'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

Les Hautes Fagnes Ramsar Site is the largest peatland in Belgium and includes around 125 hectares of active raised sphagnum bogs of great ecological interest. The diverse peat habitats host particularly rare species of flora and fauna. The Site is the last refuge for the black grouse Tetrao tetrix in Belgium and plays an important role in the conservation of protected species of insects and birds; a significant number of threatened birds use the site for nesting (including the northern shrike Lanius excubitor and the ring ouzel Turdus torquatus) or as a wintering ground during migration (including the common crane Grus grus and the Western marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus). Threats to the ecological character of the Site include industrial atmospheric pollution, groundwater contamination by the salt spread on the roads during winter and drainage for the plantation of resinous trees. The “Haute Fagnes” LIFE-Nature project has led to important restoration measures on 2,800 ha of peatlands, and consequently an increase in the number of nesting couples of diverse species including the Eurasian hobby and the little ringed plover. A large network of educational activities and scientific research was established around the Site. The Management Plan is currently being revised.

Administrative region: 
Wallonie, Province de Liège.

  • National legal designation: 
    • Réserve naturelle - Réserve Naturelle Domaniale des Hautes-Fagnes
  • Regional (international) legal designations: 
    • Other international designation
    • EU Natura 2000
  • Last publication date: 
    24-08-2015

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents