A Natura 2000 river valley protecting unusual geomorphology, wet meadows, and rich biodiversity in eastern Charente.
Val de Tardoire
Val de Tardoire is a Natura 2000 Site of Community Importance situated in the eastern part of the Charente department in southwestern France, within the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It follows the valley of the Tardoire, a tributary of the Bonnieure and thus a left-bank sub-tributary of the Charente river, and protects about 3,149 hectares of landscape along this watercourse. The site's defining value lies in its combination of unusual geomorphological features, including rocky escarpments and a fast-flowing river, together with a diverse mosaic of wet meadows, broadleaf forest, heath, and small orchard habitats.
The valley shelters a high density of protected habitats and species of European interest. These include species-rich lowland hay meadows, Ranunculion and Callitricho-Batrachion river vegetation, siliceous chasmophytic rock slopes, alluvial alder-ash forests, and unused caves. Equally significant is the fauna: several horseshoe bat species, the yellow-bellied toad, alluvial lampreys and bullheads, saproxylic beetles such as the stag beetle and great capricorn beetle, and rare dragonflies and butterflies whose populations depend on the quality of the valley's grasslands, woodlands, and waterways.
