Photo : Wikimedia Commons
Marais Poitevin
The ensemble formed by the Marais Poitevin and the Baie de l'Aiguillon (relic of an ancient marine gulf) extends over about 100,000 hectares, straddling three départements (Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime) and two regions (Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes). The space abandoned by the ocean over time was gradually filled with sediment, forming a large flat expanse, whose altitude of 0 to 8 metres (half the marsh lying below two metres) is at a level intermediate between high and low tides. The drained marshes cover an area of about 47,000 hectares. The wet marshes (whose easternmost part is called the Venise Verte) cover for their part an area of about 29,000 hectares, while marshes called intermediate (meaning imperfectly drained) represent about 19,000 hectares. On 20 May 2010, the wet marshes of the Venise Verte obtained the "Grand Site de France" label.
