FRBV25- Boat trip and walking tour in saint Omer marshes

After the visit to the city of Saint Omer in the morning, we headed for the marshes a few kilometres away. With the help of a guide, the students discovered the marshes of Saint Omer, a wetland biosphere reserve in the north of France. We boarded a large flat-bottomed boat and sailed through this large natural basin which has an average altitude of 0 meter and can go down to almost one meter below sea level. The rivers on which we sailed are in fact the result of the hard work of the men of the marsh and have been in use since the 12th century. The development of the marshlands took place gradually under the impetus of the abbeys. This involved draining water into the sea, which gradually dried out the marshland. This was followed by the digging of rivers called “wateringues” and ditches called “watergangs”. In the space of just a few centuries, the marshland changed from a swamp bristling with forests to an organized marsh made up of over 15,000 parcels of land and water, crisscrossed by 800 kilometers of canals. But the marsh most distinctive feature is that it has been cultivated mainly for vegetable production since the 12th century. The students had a walk on the paths along the canals which showed vegetable varieties that have survived the centuries and are now an integral part of the marsh heritage. Market gardening activities have promoted the development and creation of these landscapes which are still preserved today. The students discovered a site recognized by UNESCO as a “Man and Biosphere” for the coexistence between man and nature.

Thanks to both the boat trip and the walk the students were able to see the courage and resolution of people who created the system of canals in the past to reclaim and restore land. These places are now home to a great biodiversity that needs to be preserved as well as the fragile balance between man activities and nature. They saw how man and nature can coexist in harmony.