The Antenne Valley is a Natura 2000 special area of conservation located in the Charente-Maritime and Charente regions, in the valley of the Antenne, a tributary on the right bank of the Charente. It covers the entire river and most of its affluents, including the Briou.

It was submitted in March 1999 for 1,173 ha and validated on February 12, 2004, for 1,208 ha.Vallée de l'Antenne fact sheet on the DIREN Nouvelle-Aquitaine website archive

The valley has been designated a Natura 2000 site, as it is home to seven natural habitats of Community interest, as well as nineteen species of Community interest, some of which have been given priority status: the European mink, bats (chiropterans), and an insect, the rosalia longicorn.(fr) FR5400473 - Vallée de l'Antenne archive (INPN - Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel.

Location The Antenne Valley site was proposed for Natura 2000 designation at 1,173 ha, of which 541 ha were in Charente-Maritime and 632 ha in Charente, then increased to 1,208 ha, with 548 ha in Charente-Maritime and 660 ha in Charente. It comprises the entire length of the Antenne from its source at Fontaine-Chalendray and the major streambed from Prignac to Cognac.

The territory of the Antenne Valley is covered by several protected areas: the Natura 2000 site that bears the valley's name borders on two Special Protection Areas (SPAs): that of the Charente moyenne et Seugne's valley (named SPA 05 in the table below)(fr) FR5412005 -Vallée de la Charente moyenne et Seugne archive (INPN - Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel). and that of the Néré à Bresdon plain (named SPA 24).(fr) FR5412024 - Plaine de Néré à Bresdon archive (INPN - Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel).

This Natura 2000 area also includes a natural zone of ecological, faunistic, and floristic interest (ZNIEFF) of the same name. It is a first-generation ZNIEFF (type I) covering 709.7 hectares spread over five communes.(fr) ZNIEFF 540004558 - Vallée de l'Antenne archive on the INPN website and its map [archive] on the DIREN website. Several of the ZNIEFFs listed below are located nearby, but are not included in the Natura 2000 classification perimeter.

There are important bird conservation areas (ZICO) nearby (notably in the Charente and Seugne valleys),Vallée de la Charente et de la Seugne archive on the BirdLife International website. but not in the Antenne Valley itself. +CommuneDepartmentArea (km2)Classified areaGeographic information system of the Observatoire régional de l'environnement Poitou-Charente (Sigore), website archive.DetailsAujacCharente-Maritime8,730,440AumagneThese five communes are located on the minor bed of a tributary of the river, and are classified but have no official surface area.Charente-Maritime20,500,000Authon-ÉbéonCharente-Maritime11,650,116BagnizeauCharente-Maritime9,630,090Blanzac-lès-MathaCharente-Maritime9,420,090BresdonCharente-Maritime16,670,000ZPS 24La BrousseCharente-Maritime18,840,188Cherves-RichemontCharente37,942,660ZNIEFF no 467 et ZNIEFF no 002ZNIEFF 540003975 - Vallée du Ri Bellot à l'ouest de la Houmade archive on the INPN website and its map archive on the DIREN website.CognacCharente15,500,010ZPS 05 et ZNIEFF no 574ZNIEFF 540007595 - L'île Marteau (Charente valley at Merpins) archive on the INPN website and its map archive on the DIREN website.CourceracCharente-Maritime6,200,370CresséCharente-Maritime10,960,329ZPS 24Fontaine-ChalendrayCharente-Maritime18,860,033GibourneCharente-Maritime11,000,000HaimpsCharente-Maritime18,470,000JavrezacCharente3,660,220Louzac-Saint-AndréCharente10,040,300ZNIEFF no 002MassacCharente-Maritime9,150,090MathaCharente-Maritime19,080,190MesnacCharente6,510,840ZNIEFF no 467MigronCharente-Maritime15,061,350ZNIEFF no 467MonsCharente-Maritime15,630,780PrignacCharente-Maritime6,770,340Saint-Ouen-la-ThèneCharente-Maritime7,010,070Saint-Sulpice-de-CognacCharente23,822,570ZNIEFF no 467 et ZNIEFF no 542ZNIEFF 540007642 - Les Fades archive on the INPN website and its map archive on the DIREN website.Le SeureCharente-Maritime5,680,680ZNIEFF no 467SiecqCharente-Maritime11,660,000SonnacCharente-Maritime17,120,020ThorsCharente-Maritime5,550,100ZNIEFF no 711.ZNIEFF 540015661 - Sablières de Thors archive on the INPN website and its map archive on the DIREN website.Les Touches-de-PérignyCharente-Maritime21,560,210ZPS 24Total of 29 communes392,6712,080 (3,1 %)

Geography and hydrography

The 1,208-hectare site is situated at an altitude that reaches a peak of 50 meters, descending slowly along the course of the river to reach 10 meters at its confluence with the Charente. The difference in altitude is therefore 40 meters, although very slight in the second part of the river, which explains the meanders, multiple arms, and marshes.

The site covers up to 10% of both running and stagnant waters from the river. The Antenne is a small river, 48.3 km long,SANDRE, "Fiche rivière l'Antenne (R32-0430)" archive (accessed July 4th, 2008) with an oceanic river regime and good water quality. North of Prignac, only the minor beds of the Antenne and part of its tributaries (the Briou) have been included in the Natura 2000 zone, as the presence of summer droughts is detrimental to its good conservation status.

From Prignac to its confluence with the Charente, the river has numerous secondary branches and a large floodplain, making it one of the best-preserved alluvial sites in the region. On this downstream section, the entire major riverbed is a Natura 2000 zone.

80% of the site that is forested is almost entirely made up of 48% deciduous forest and 32% monoculture forest, almost exclusively populiculture. The alder-wood riparian forest alternates with poplar plantations, reedbeds, and a few flood-meadows.

Cereal crops account for 6% of its surface area, with other surfaces (urbanized areas, roads) accounting for 2%.

Of particular interest are two areas of dry grassland and semi-natural wet meadows, each representing 1% of the surface area.

Achievements The Antenne Valley Natura 2000 site is part of the French national list of sites submitted to the creation of the Natura 2000 network, and was included in it under number FR5400473 in March 1999.

The procedure is managed by the Saint-Jean-d'Angély sub-prefecture, with the Rochefort-based Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux (LPO) as operator.

The management committee, or "Copil", responsible for ensuring that the site is properly managed, is made up of representatives of the local authorities, in particular the mayors of the communes concerned, as well as associations of local residents, foresters, fishermen and nature conservationists, among others.

Natura 2000 contracts are signed directly with the French government or with the European Union, for both agri-environmental measures (MAEt) for agricultural land, and Natura 2000 contracts for non-agricultural land (which are not located on agricultural land).DIREN Nouvelle-Aquitaine website archive

Habitats of community interest

The Antenne Valley Natura 2000 site is home to seven natural habitats of "Community Interest" as defined in the Habitats Directive (EU Directive 92/43/EEC, Annex I), all of which are of Importance C (less than 2% of existing areas in France).

The alluvial ash forest or residual alluvial forest with common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and black alder (Alnus glutinosa) covers 598 ha, or 52% of the site.

A holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest covers 37.01 ha or 3% of the site in Cherves-Richemont, between the river and the D731 at "Bois d'Ouillat".

The river forms two sites:

First, on half of its surface, i.e. 5% of the site, the water stagnates in the form of natural eutrophic lakes (water rich in algae and plants); and then, for 5% of the site, the river itself, in running water, is an habitat of Community interest.

In the commune of Saint-Sulpice-de-Cognac, abandoned underground stone quarries form an underground cavity site for bats. Colonies of chiropterans use them as hibernation and reproduction sites.

Calcicole grasslands, 6.74 ha of which are included in the Natura 2000 zone, are a group of dry grasslands where limestone outcrops. Grasses, other annual plants, and orchids form a specific habitat. Montpellier's milkvetch (Astragalus monspessulanus) is the rarest of the species.

Lowland hay meadows form the seventh natural habitat of Community interest.

Species of community interest The Antenne Valley Natura 2000 site is home to nineteen species of community interest as defined in the Habitats Directive, Annex II.

Mammals The European mink (Mustela lutreola) and otter (Lutra lutra) are permanent occupants of the site's banks. This site is of importance "B" for European mink (presence of 2% to 15% of the known population in France) and "C" for otter (less than 2% of the known population in France).[PDF] InfoSite no 2 archive, December 2006.

Bats are present throughout the valley, which serves as their hunting ground: barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus), horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis), Schreibers' miniopter (Miniopterus schreibersii), vespertilionidae (Myotis emarginatus) and bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii). For all these chiropterans, the site is of importance "C", accounting for less than 2% of the known population in France.

The hibernating population count for winter 2007-2008 was 442 individuals (540 in 2008–2009), of seven different species. These included 383 great rhinolophs (409 in 2008–2009), 12 little rhinolophs (19 in 2008–2009), 41 eared vespertilts (98 in 2008–2009), 2 Bechstein's vespertilts (1 in 2008–2009) and 2 barbastelles (also 2 in 2008–2009) (the latter prefer other habitats and are very numerous and visible throughout the valley in summer). We also counted 1 brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) (9 in 2008–2009) and 1 whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) (2 in 2008–2009).

During the summer of 2007, a series of nocturnal outings allowed to identify eleven species, some of which are not counted among the hibernants on the Chaudrolles site, in particular, Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii), Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri), serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus), kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii), western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) and common noctule (Nyctalus noctula).[PDF] InfoSite no 3 archive, December 2007.

The common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) is very present.

The majority of breeding sites remain unknown.

Invertebrates The site is home to a rare invertebrate, for instance, the rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina), which is more or less adapted to this type of environment in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is recognized as a high-priority species, because it is "in danger of extinction on the European territory of the member states and for whose conservation the European Union bears particular responsibility".

Also present are the southern damselfly (Coenagrion mercuriale), the orange-spotted emerald (Oxygastra curtisii), Graslin's gomphe (Gomphus graslinii), the great capricorn (Cerambyx cerdo) and the european stag beetle (Lucanus cervus). The large copper (Lycaena dispar) has not been found and is thought to have disappeared.For these species, the site is of importance "C" (presence of less than 2% of the known population in France).

Since the inventory carried out for the submission of the site's dossier, the Large blue (Phengaris arion) has been found at two sites in two communes, and the marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) at one site.

Fish