Causses du Quercy (northern entrance)

This is the northern edge of the Causses du Quercy, a regional nature park. The Parc naturel régional des Causses du Quercy is a nature area in the northeast of the Midi-Pyrénées region, particularly in the Lot department. It is an extensive park, covering 97 municipalities and a total of 176,000 hectares. In the north, the park is bordered by the Dordogne, in the south, the park ends at the Quercy Blanc, below the cantons of Limogne and Quercy and Lalbenque, just before the valleys of the Aveyron and the Garonne. To the west, Cahors is just outside the park, and to the east, Figeac is just outside. The park is located on a limestone plateau (Causse). It is a hilly landscape intersected by the deep river valleys of the Lot and Célé. It is a poor area, which results in the villages being quite far apart. Only about 25,000 people live in the whole area. The soil is limestone, porous, which means that water sinks quickly into the ground. The vegetation on the plateau struggles to survive, especially in the dry hot summers. When more forests were cleared to make farmland, it quickly became evident that this yielded little more than accelerated desertification of the surroundings. The stunted crooked oaks on the Causses have a clear function in retaining water and thus keeping the environment livable.

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