With more than 20,000 pairs of seabirds and 27 nesting species, it is the largest nature reserve on the French coast. A veritable wildlife sanctuary, the Sept-Îles archipelago in the Côtes-d’Armor sees its role reinforced. According to a decree published Friday in the Official Journal, its area has thus been considerably extended, from 280 to 19,700 hectares.
Called for a long time by the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), this extension “is justified to protect the marine natural heritage, in particular the kelp forests and the gorgonian fields, the rocky highlands and the species which depend on them”, according to the decree.
The refuge of gannets and puffins
It also aims to “reinforce the preservation of the particularly rich and diversified nesting marine avifauna in this sector as well as that of the colony of gray seals”, adds the text. Rouzic Island, for example, is home to almost all of France’s gannet and Atlantic puffin populations.
“Everyone is aware of the importance and richness of the reserve. It’s a good thing”, reacted the mayor of Perros-Guirec Erven Léon, recalling that “this decree is the result of a long process which aimed to extend the reserve. “What was important was the maintenance of human activities, specifies the elected official. In the quiet zone, this makes it possible to maintain activities, fishing, boating and the associative fabric. In 1912, the Sept-Îles had become the first French protected area under private law with the status of ornithological reserve, thanks to the LPO.