Orneau loop at Laid-Mâle

Site of great biological interest

The site is on the right bank of the River Orneau, at a place called "Laid-Mâle", upstream and downstream from the Ghète confluence. It mainly comprises moist and marshy meadows, along with a few alder and willow groves, environments that have become rare in the Hesbaye region. The seepages have allowed an amphibian plant to develop, the berula or water parsnip (Berula erecta) is highly localised in the region. A crop of greater Tussock-sedge (Carex paniculata), a plant recognisable, as its name suggests, by its capacious tussocks, is present in a young alder grove. Ancient willows are also home to the musk beetle (Aromia moschata), an insect that is protected by law in Wallonia. Endangered by ever-increasing drainage and embankment activities, these relic meadows owe their salvation to their officially protected status.
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