La gestion des pelouses sèches en Région wallonne

Abstract

Calcareous grassland management in Wallonia. In South Belgium, calcareous grasslands previously grazed by sheep and goats have been abandoned for more than 50 years and many have disappeared. The remaining ones are dominated by coarse grasses and partially reafforested. Sites are generally small in size and isolated in a forest or agricultural environment. They still concentrate many rare and threatened species but their conservation urges important restoration works. Management aims and methods used in Wallonia have to take into account the regional characteristics: small and fragmented sites, afforestation, small and isolated populations. To lower the risk of local extinction, rotational management has been selected. Sheep and/or goats ensure control of herb layer, best achieved with sheep, and control of regrowth, best achieved with goats. As rotational grazing is used, additional mechanical cutting of regrowths is needed. Several combined rotational managements are given for the Viroin’s nature reserves.

Keywords

• Calcareous grassland
• restoration ecology
• rotational grazing
• Belgium