Vallée de l'Orne et ses affluents translated as Orne Valley and tributaries is a Natura 2000 conservation area that is 2,115 hectares in size.
Geography
The area is focused on Orne and 3 of its main tributaries, the laize, the Noireau and the Rouvre, as they flow through the different landscapes of Norman Switzerland. These landscapes range from deep gorges, torrential or slow-flowing rivers, wet meadows, alluvial forests, escarpments, scree slopes, siliceous ledges, enclosed woods and hedgerows.
It is spread across 21 different communes all within the departments of Orne and calvados;
Athis-Val de Rouvre Berjou Bretteville-sur-Laize Le Bô Cahan Clécy Cossesseville Fresney-le-Puceux Les Isles-Bardel Ménil-Hermei Ménil-Hubert-sur-Orne Le Mesnil-Villement Pierrefitte-en-Cinglais Pont-d'Ouilly Putanges-le-Lac Rapilly Saint-Denis-de-Méré Saint-Omer Saint-Philbert-sur-Orne Saint-Rémy Le Vey
Conservation
The conservation area has seventeen species listed in Annex 2 of the Habitats Directive;
Eurasian otter European bullhead Cottus perifretum Brook lamprey Sea lamprey Atlantic salmon White-clawed crayfish Freshwater pearl mussel Jersey tiger Western barbastelle Greater horseshoe bat Lesser horseshoe bat Geoffroy's bat Bechstein's bat Greater mouse-eared bat European stag beetle Orange-spotted emerald
In addition the Natura 2000 site has eighteen habitats protected under the Habitats Directive.
References