La Dombes

The Dombes is a large natural region of the Ain, characterised by a clay plateau dotted with more than a thousand artificial ponds, created from the Middle Ages for fish farming. This mosaic of water, reeds and small woods makes it one of the richest wetlands in Europe for birds.

Herons, egrets, storks and thousands of migratory birds stop or nest here, making the Dombes a major centre of French ornithology; the Parc des Oiseaux is at Villars-les-Dombes. The ponds, drained and fished in turn in autumn, are also the cradle of a traditional fish-farming practice that is still alive.

← Other sites in Ain