Creek of the Bottom of Mincée

In the south of the village of Wibrin, on the edge of the Tailles plateau, flows the stream of Fond de Mincée, a small left bank tributary of the Bellemeuse that has carved its winding course through a very hilly landscape at an altitude close to 400 m. For several decades, the slopes of the valley have been largely covered by spruce plantations, just like the alluvial bottom which, at the end of the 2000s, underwent significant lighting works during the LIFE project ‘Plateau des Tailles’ with the aim of restoring wet meadows that once existed, before the massive and widespread afforestation of the Ardennes. From a biodiversity perspective, the site has great potential for hosting species, but few inventories have been conducted there to date. Particularly interesting species have been reported, such as the red kite (Milvus milvus), the treecreeper (Certhia familiaris), and the gray shrike (Lanius excubitor), which stay there at least during the breeding season, daytime butterflies such as the small silver-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), the black-veined white (Aporia crataegi), the mottled skipper (Pyrgus malvae), or even an uncommon pioneer dragonfly, the dwarf bluet (Ischnura pumilio), which inhabits recently dug ponds in well-sunny locations. Almost entirely included in the Natura 2000 network, the site also contains numerous parcels belonging to the designated natural reserve known as ‘Vallées de la Bellemeuse et de Mincée’, largely owned by the association Réserves Naturelles RNOB.

Type: Site of Great Biological Interest (SGIB)

La biodiversité en Wallonie