Virelles Pond

The Virelles pond is one of the most well-known wetlands in Wallonia. Located at the boundary of the Fagne and the Calestienne of the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse, east of Chimay, this body of water covers 80 hectares and was created several centuries ago to provide energy to the forges in the region. During the 20th century, the site was home to mass tourism operations, especially from the 1940s, which lasted until the early 1980s. This activity led to numerous environmental degradations (destruction of aquatic and riverside vegetation, pollution, disturbances to wildlife, among others). In the following decade, the acquisition of the domain by the Générale de Banque and its availability, for a period of 99 years, to three nature conservation associations, helped ensure the future of this internationally important wetland, with daily management and organization of educational activities entrusted to the Virelles Nature non-profit. The Virelles pond is home to one of the two largest reedbeds in the Walloon Region, covering nearly 10 hectares in the western part of the site. Other plant communities of great interest can also be found: aquatic meadows, sedge beds, oligotrophic wet meadows, hay meadows, alder and willow swamps, and schist oak-hornbeam forests, etc. These various habitats host many rare plant species as well as an extremely rich entomofauna. The body of water and its surroundings host an exceptional avifauna comprising more than 200 species regularly observed, including various rare breeders such as iconic birds like the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) and the common tern (Sterna hirundo). The draining of the pond, which takes place every four years at the end of autumn, is a much-anticipated event that attracts a large number of birds, particularly spectacular concentrations of great egrets (Ardea alba) and one or two white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla).

Public access: - extension of the natural reserve management through extensive grazing.
Type: Site of Great Biological Interest (SGIB)

La biodiversité en Wallonie