Wallonia’s government on Thursday gave the green light for the creation of three new authorised nature reserves and the extension of three existing ones, regional Agriculture Minister René Collin announced.
The move will add 42.4572 hectares (ha) to the region’s nature reserves.
The new authorised reserves are in La Roche-en Ardenne (Méandre de l’Ourthe), Marche and Nassogne (Prés de la Wamme) and Hamoir (Thier aux Pourcets).
Wallonia currently has 3,124.51 ha. of authorised nature reserves in 168 locations, along with 9,819.21 ha. of domain nature reserves in 231 sites, and 805 ha. of forest reserves in 19 locations.
The region’s protected areas further include Natura 2000 zones totalling 221,000 ha (240 sites) – part of a network of special conservation areas across the European Union – and 1,376 ha (74 sites) of wetland zones of biological interest.
Christopher Vincent
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