France designates two new Ramsar Sites in the Aquitaine Region4th March 2012  The Government of France has designated two new Ramsar Sites: the Marais d'Orx in the Basque county; and the Leyre river delta sector of the Bassin d'Arcachon tidal bay.
The Marais d'Orx et zones humides associées is a wetland reserve of lakes, ponds, marshlands, wet meadows and surrounded by a network of canals. The site has been restored after extensive drainage for agricultural purposes in the past. It now acts as an important stop-over and wintering site for numerous species of waterbirds and is one of the few nesting sites for the Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). The site is also important for a large number of insect, amphibian, reptile, fish and mammal species, including threatened species such as the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the European Mink (Mustela lutreola), both listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. The site plays a major role in flood control.
The Bassin d'Arcachon - Secteur du delta de la Leyre covers a substantial part of the delta. The site is important for many species dependent on the intertidal zone such as threatened fish species. The mosaic of habitats, also including seasonally flooded forests, meadows, salt marshes and fish ponds, acts as a stop-over and wintering site for migratory bird species, many of them protected on a European level. It offers habitat for numerous species of insects, reptiles and mammals, some of them threatened globally. Luscinia svecica namnetum, a species of Bluethroat endemic to the French Atlantic coast, also occurs here. The site is important in flood regulation and acts as a buffer zone between Arcachon Bay and its watershed.
France's two recent designations contribute to the goals of the Ramsar Convention’s Strategic Plan for 2009-2015, which is to reach a protected area of 250 million hectares by 2015.
More information is availabale on the Ramsar website
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