Brenne Regional Natural Park, Regional natural park in Indre, France
Brenne Regional Natural Park is a protected area in the Indre department of central France that covers rolling hills and plains crossed by a dense network of water surfaces. The landscape consists of low forests, heathlands, and open meadows that spread between the many ponds of different sizes.
The designation as a regional park took place in the early 1980s to protect the traditional pond farming and wetlands from drainage. The area once belonged partly to the province of Berry and partly to Touraine, and many of the ponds were created by monks as early as the 12th century.
The name Brenne comes from a Celtic word for wet moorlands, and today you see fish farming in shallow ponds that have been worked since medieval times. Small villages of brick and half-timber stand between the water surfaces, and residents still practice draining the ponds in autumn to harvest carp.
Visitors find marked paths for walks along pond shores and through forests, and some routes are also suitable for cycling or horseback riding. The best time for bird watching is from September to November, when migratory birds rest, and in spring, when breeding birds return.
In autumn, thousands of cranes fly over the park and often rest for several days at the larger ponds, creating a loud and impressive spectacle. The population of European pond turtles is among the largest in Western Europe, and sometimes you see the animals sunbathing on logs or stones at the water's edge.
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