carrières, biodiversité - Haute école du paysage, d'ingénierie et d ...

CARRIÈRES, BIODIVERSITÉ ET FONCTIONNEMENT DES HYDROSYSTÈMES
de planification du processus de restauration de carrières humides,
surtout en région méditerranéenne où les programmes de suivi
écologique demeurent encore insuffisants.
Key words : mediterranean wetlands, social perception of quarries, spanish quarry
planning
It is only by the end of the 90’s that various ecologists and local communities started
paying attention to quarries for their potential as wetlands. Since then, several
initiatives were launched to rehabilitate quarries for this purpose.
The dry climate typical of this region leads to a decrease of the groundwater
level during summer, aggravated by agricultural activities pumping water. At
last, some quarries completely dry out, benefiting numerous invertebrates and
amphibians left without predators.
A significant drought factor is the water bodies’ depth on which aquatic
vegetation and oxygen concentration depend. Indeed, eutrophisation is a
recurrent problem related to this type of habitats.
In parallel, the presence of large artificial lakes increases the social pressure
on the development of recreational activities that frequently lead to harmful effects
on the environment. Unfortunately, quarries are often considered under an economic
approach and greatly suffer from a lack of planning. They even serve as
rubbish dumps and the population sees them rather negatively.
However, various case studies aim at an appropriate management of quarries
in order to optimise the rehabilitation work as well as the social use of the area. It
is important to insist on the need for a quarry rehabilitation management
planning, especially in the Mediterranean region where ecological monitoring
programmes are still lacking.
Photo de couverture : Laure Bourjot ; vignettes : Yvain Dubois, Franck Delétang, CN Charte environnement, UNICEM/Pierre-Yves Brunaud, ENCEM
Mise en pages : Farida Oullami
Achevé d’imprimer en novembre 2009
par Iropa
Imprimé en France
© Yan Février