Project Originators

The project targets habitats in the Walloon Region which are in an unfavourable state of conservation and which require restoration measures. It is a question of boggy and very wet habitats, which can be encountered on the high plateaus of the Ardennes and at the floor of the valleys. Peat bogs, wet moors or alluvial meadows have already been the subject of special attention in other LIFE projects : LIFE-Saint­-Hubert, LIFE-Plateau des Tailles, LIFE-Croix-Scaille, and LIFE-Hautes-Fagnes. In the Western Ardennes, the Plateau de Recogne had not hitherto benefited from any large-scale restoration work for the purpose of enlarging, connecting and improving the state of conservation of the boggy and very wet habitats that exist there. The LIFE-Lomme Project appeared as a need for filling this gap.

The project will not be limited solely to the problem of marginal and sensitive natural habitats such as peat bogs. Major emphasis will the placed on leafy forests, through the restoration of the natural forests at the floor of the Ardennes valley, and the dynamisation of management in copses by the diversification of plantings that are too often single-species.

The project has been prepared by Marc Dufrêne (DEMNA). The municipal authorities concerned were called upon right from its preparatory phase. They undertook, by an agreement in principle, to collaborate on the project.

The project was submitted in 2008 and accepted in 2009.

Project Partners

The proposer: the Direction Générale de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Naturelles et de l'Environnement (DGARNE)

The DGARNE (see environnement.wallonie.be ) is a Walloon Region authority with responsibility for agricultural and environmental matters.

Two of its departments are concerned with the LIFE-Lomme Project: the DEMNA and the DNF.

The DEMNA (Département de l'Étude du Milieu Agricole et Naturel - formerly CRNFB) has the role of gathering the data and the necessary information for environmental monitoring. Within it, the Nature and Water Management co-ordinates in particular the biodiversity inventory and monitoring networks and the scientific expertise for the implementation of Natura 2000. This management is an initiative resulting from the implementation of five LIFE projects in the Walloon Region since 2002. In the context of the LIFE-Lomme Project, the DEMNA will contribute its scientific expertise to the strategic conservation orientations that are to be implemented, in the Lomme river basin, with regard to the management of the targeted natural habitats and the implementation of the various scientific monitoring protocols.

It will contribute to the preparation of the actions and to the monitoring of the project as a whole.

The DNF (Département de la Nature et des Forêts) is responsible for forestry, hunting, fishing and nature conservation. Its organisation is based on cantonments which ensure the local management of these matters. The DNF is the main on-the-ground operator of the various LIFE and LIFE+ projects launched in the Walloon Region. The DNF will contribute its support to the LIFE-Lomme Project through the various cantonments concerned, in particular for the actions relating to the woods involved and to the state nature reserves.

The DGARNE's contact details: Avenue Prince de Liège 15 à 5000 JAMBES.

The Partner: Contrat Rivière Lesse ASBL (CRLesse)

The CRLESSE is a non-profit-making association that belongs to the network of river contracts set up and financed by the Walloon Region and the common partners. River contracts' seek, with the catch basin players, to establish the principles of river management, to define its objectives, and to co-ordinate its concrete actions. They are enshrined within a sustainable development rationale by the protection of the environment. A River Contract encompasses all the users of the water with an aim of maintaining or restoring the water in or to a good ecological state, via concerted management, each in the context of his, her or its own responsibilities. A River Contract works with a River Committee comprising representatives of the partners of the basin, and those of a Committee that supports the Coordination Cell. This Cell is responsible for making a field inventory order to identify the assets to be preserved and the problems to be solved, to lead working groups on particular themes and to establish a common action programme. This project represents a pilot action on a particular area of the River Contract.

CRLesse's contact details : Rue de Dewoin 48 à 5580 Rochefort.

Project Team

- a Co-ordinator ( Sara Cristofoli ) responsible for the general co-ordination of the project, relations with the various players involved, reports, and so on.

- two Technical Assistants ( Pierre Clerx and Hubert Baltus ) responsible for the preparation and the monitoring of the fieldwork

This basic team receives assistance practically every day from the technicians and the Engineer of the Cantonments of Libin ( Bernard Deom ) and Saint-Hubert ( Dominique Pauwels ) for making  the forestry inventories and for relations with the municipal owners. The team also benefits from the support of some DEMNA scientists ( Marc Dufrêne, Grégory Motte, Jean-Louis Gathoye, Philippe Frankard) for the identification of the priority action areas, the restoration and management methods to be implemented and for putting the scientific monitoring in place. Lastly, the CRLesse ( Noëlle de Brabandere ) provides invaluable support for the administrative, relational and accountancy aspects.