Draft:Ermenonville Forest

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Protections
The Ermenonville Forest is protected for its landscapes, its natural environments, and the species living there. It has been part of a DREAL/UDAP listed site since 28 August 1998. The site, which includes the Ermenonville Forest, the Pontarmé Forest (part of the Chantilly Forest), the Haute Pommeraie Forest, and the Saint-Christophe hill in the Forest of Halatte, covers 15000 ha. The Vallière estate has been a listed place in its own right since 10 April 1961, covering 330 ha.

The forest unit can be divided into three zones naturelles d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique, which provide a good understanding of its natural diversity:
 * the "Chantilly/Ermenonville forest unit", a type 1 ZNIEFF of 11048 ha total, covering the national forest as well as the Vallière estate, the Chantilly forest in 19 Oise communes, and the eastern Monlognon woods;
 * the "Bois de Morriére", a type 1 ZNIEFF covering 1099 ha of private woods southwest of the national forest;
 * and the "Interforest exchange area / large mammal route from Retz to Ermenonville", which does not cover the Ermenonville Forest itself, but rather a wildlife corridor between it and the Forest of Retz to the east.

Since April 2006, the forest has contained two Natura 2000 sites. As such, it is subject to management regimens to maintain the species in question and the habitats they occupy:
 * The "Picardy forests: Trois Forêts and Bois du Roi units" special protection zone covers 13615 ha, including almost all the surrounding forest and woodlands. This zone is especially focused on protection of bird species, particularly its 12 species of concern;
 * The "Forest units of Halatte, Chantilly, and Ermenonoville" covers 2396 ha. Only a small part of this unit is in the Ermenonville Forest: part of the edge of the Butte aux Gens d'Armes in the Chantilly Forest, the area of the Thève valley and the Vallière ponds, part of the Morrière woods, and a small portion of the Perthe and Montlognon woods. It protects 18 different types of habitats, about 20 protected and 60 threatened plant species, and four rare animal species.

All communes covered by the Forest have been part of the Parc naturel régional Oise-Pays de France (Oise - Pays de France Regional Natural Park) since its creation in 2004.

Flora and fauna
The forest hosts many large animals, including wild boar, red deer, and roe deer, as well as European green woodpecker in the conifer zones.

In the 18th century, moorland covered about 3000 ha, almost the entire area of the modern national forest. About 200 ha remain today; this is significantly more than in the neighboring Chantilly Forest and Forest of Halatte units. Since its creation in 2004, the Oise-Pays de France Regional Natural Park has been studying these remnant heaths and taking biotic inventory in order to conserve or even restore them. Their state of preservation was generally poor. As elsewhere in Europe, the moors diminished after the removal of sheep grazing enabled colonization by forest species. Rare plants of the moors include bell heather, silkyleaf broom, and heath dog-violet. The remnant moors also provide habitat for rare animal species such as the European nightjar, sand lizard, and bog bush cricket.

Wildlife corridors are crucial to species preservation because they connect fragmentary habitat and thus the gene pools of separated populations. The forest roads serve as exchange corridors between the different moorland areas; the Regional Natural Park and its stakeholders have launched an experimental program, the first in France, to plant bell and common heather along certain routes. The plan also includes removal of tree saplings from the moors, which are regularly uprooted by Park volunteers. Private landowners also participate in the preservation effort; for example, the Circuit de Montefortaine (CERAM) grazes sheep on the moors of its automotive test site.

The main heathland areas of the Ermenonville forest are as follows:
 * the Bruyères de Frais-Vent in the northern Montlognon Woods, property of the Institut de France, plots 52 and 54
 * Haute-Chaume, 5 ha, plots 131 and 141 in the national forest, on either side of the Haute-Chaume road;
 * the area west of the N 330 road at the Bosquet du Prince crossroads, national forest plots 69, 70, and 110
 * the Pierre Monconseil, in the private Morrière Woods (closed to the public), southwest of Parc Astérix
 * Mer de Sable inside Parc Astérix
 * Butte du Malois inside the Mortefontaine golf course, and related areas inside the CERAM test tracks

Two other moorland areas near the Ermenonville Forest were included in the preservation program: the Butte aux Gens d'Armes in the Pontarmé Forest (part of the Chantilly Forest unit) and the Garenne Maillard, a private woods east of La Chapelle-en-Serval near Château Mont-Royal.

Notable trees
L'Ancêtre de Perthe ("the Perthe Ancestor") is a large oak located in the Bois de Perthe, east of Ermenonville. It is 37 m tall and 250 years old as of 2002.

Notable natural sites
The Ermenonville Forest has four main publicly-accessible sandstone block areas.
 * The Bruyères de Frais-Vent site, located in the Montlognon woods on the Chaalis estate (Institut de France lands), is the most impressive. Several small hills covered with sandstone blocks and moor vegetation mingle with stretches of sand, framed by pines and heather. The site was quarried for sandstone in the 19th century, and it is difficult to determine how much of its current state is natural and how much is human-modified.
 * The Pierre Monconseil site is located in the private Morrière Woods, north of Plailly. It is also a former quarry and is floristically similar to the Bruyères de Frais-Vent. Here, the sandstone blocks are generally much smaller; despite the name ("Counsel Rock"), there is no single large stone here.
 * The Grès Sainte-Marguerite, visible from the Chemin du Frêne (especially plots 163 and 166) is located on the north edge of the Vallière estate and named after the estate's chapel of St. Margaret. The small rocks here are only partly visible under a covering of vegetation, ferns, and pine-needle litter.
 * The Pierre Sorcière is an impressive large rock located in Perthe Woods, at the northwest end of plot 261 near the Basse-Corde crossroads. From the Patte d'Oie route, access is only to a rocky plateau with a (tree-obstructed) view of the Ermenonville Forest and the Mer de Sable; from the road to Motagny, the rock itself is visible atop the hill, far from the route and partly hidden in ferns.

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"La forêt d'Ermenonville compte en outre cinq étangs[...]"