“Discover the Rich Biodiversity and History of Parc du Marquenterre on Its 50th Anniversary”

The Parc du Marquenterre, in the Somme, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. If a few have disappeared, 30 new species of birds have arrived on the site since 1973. A land of welcome for these animals to which the park team seeks to offer the richest habitat possible.

The bluethroat or the black woodpecker could never have been observed in Picardy 50 years ago. At Marquenterre Park, located in Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, in the Somme, it is estimated that around thirty species have arrived on the site since its creation in 1973.

In this small paradise for ornithologists, the stork, present naturally in the region, had almost disappeared from France before it was reintroduced by the founder of the park.

“There are about sixty couples in the Somme department, but I don’t forget the past, the fact that it almost disappeared. So, every day, I savor these moments because I tell myself that this is a chance for us today.i”, says Philippe Carruette, educational manager at the Marquenterre park.

Other species have arrived from afar, such as the Eurasian Spoonbill, which came from the Netherlands in 2000, and the Cattle Egret, which moved north due to climate change as early as 1992.”It was the big surprise for us because it was really a bird from Africa, from the Mediterranean basin. When we saw the first cattle egrets on the site, it’s as if we had seen flamingos in Picardy“, recalls Philippe Carruette. “There are 800 today“, he specifies.

The black-crowned night heron also arrived from the south. A couple now lives in the park. The protection of the large areas of marshes, further east, in turn allowed the great egret to expand its population towards western Europe and reach the park in the 1990s. “We’re on a mix of identitiesdiversity and history, because ornithology is also a long history of nature“, summarizes Philippe Carruette. And if these birds have remained, it is because they evolve in a very favorable environment.

“We tell ourselves that there are not enough places like this. Nature obviously needs to be saved. It’s really a pleasure to find yourself there while feeling in a protected environment“, observes a visitor. “The park is really very good. They explain evolution because of climate. It is a beautiful place. You can spend the day there, there is always something to see“, rejoices a visitor, camera around her neck.

If certain species like the melanocephalic gull came because man destroyed its habitat, in the park, we remain optimistic. “That means you have to work, know how to welcome them and have a wealth of habitat. If the bird is chased from favorable places and if it does not find any, it is extinction in the more or less long term so it is a challenge for us to keep biodiversity“, warns the educational manager of the park. Hence the time spent protecting the site, but also raising awareness among future generations.

Very beautiful photos of bird species are to be discovered on the website of wildlife photographer Benoît Henrion.