WETLANDS

In Switzerland, the Grande Cariçaie represents the biggest wetlands of Switzerland with an area of 2’800 ha. It consists of several natural reserves where a quarter of the flora and fauna of Switzerland can be found. It originated from the Jura waters corrections that were made in the end of the XIXth century, which lowered the level of the lake and revealed a shore prone to be colonised by vegetation. These lands are now under the management of the Association de la Grande Cariçaie (hereafter “AGC”) to keep the formidable diversity of habitats present in the wetlands, which would be lost otherwise. The majority of the photos from this page were taken in this area.

I am fortunate to be part of the team of the AGC as responsible of the ornithological surveys of the Grande Cariçaie nature reserves. Some of the images below were taken during fieldwork in areas forbidden of access to the public (these images are property of the AGC and are distinguished by a statement when opened in the lightbox. The AGC granted permission to use them on this website). Fieldwork in unauthorised area is by itself already a disturbance, thus I keep photography in these areas strictly restricted to a few images while doing a survey and never lose time in the wetlands to obtain specific photos. I never do photography in the unauthorised areas when I am not doing fieldwork at the same time (i.e. when I am not working for the AGC).