The Great Fields

The site of Grands Prés de Gastuche is located in the Walloon Brabant to the northeast of Wavre, on the right bank of the Dyle. Bordered to the north by the Bois du Bouly and the Train, and to the east by the Ottignies-Leuven railway line, the area corresponds to a floodplain wetland irrigated by several streams and occupied, in its eastern portion, by a small pumping station belonging to the Intercommunal of Walloon Brabant. Until the end of the 2000s, plantations of poplars and conifers occupied a large part of the site, but following their exploitation, a very heterogeneous spontaneous vegetation gradually developed, creating particularly favorable conditions for birdlife. Various interesting breeding species for the region settle there, such as the whinchat (Saxicola torquatus), Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti), the water rail (Rallus aquaticus), the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), the spotted crake (Locustella naevia), the ictérine warbler (Hippolais icterina), or the bluethroat (Luscinia svecica). In winter, the site is frequented among others by the great egret (Ardea alba), the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), and even the gray shrike (Lanius excubitor), which has stayed there several times, the last time in 2016. The flora remains little known but some rare species have been noted there, particularly the marsh stitchwort (Stellaria palustris), a threatened and strictly protected plant in the Walloon Region. The site has no protection status and is outside the Natura 2000 network.

Type: Site of Great Biological Interest (SGIB)

La biodiversité en Wallonie