The Haut-Chemin ponds are part of a group of around a hundred ponds, often peaty in nature, spread across the Bassigny clay-sandstone plateau, isolated among pastures and crops and of very ancient origin (periglacial or Celtic human activity). Their vegetation is diverse, given their small surface area (1 to 12 ares): reedbeds, groups of floating plants, rooted aquatic plants, tall sedges, etc. Dragonflies (including Coenagrion pulchellum, on the Champagne-Ardenne Red List of Odonates), amphibians (including the great crested newt, protected in France and Europe (Bern Convention and Habitats Directive) and on the national Red List of Vulnerable Animal Species) and a variety of birds find this a favourable site for feeding and/or breeding. In addition, these small ponds are a relay for the flora of the paratourbous environments between the Vosges and Morvan. Although their state of conservation is fairly good, it is precarious and continually deteriorating (human attacks and willow encroachment). Several ponds are threatened with filling up in the more or less short term. Of the 10 ponds identified in 1981, only a few remain today, and the ZNIEFF has been greatly reduced in size.
Mares du Haut Chemin
