A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
From being viewed as ‘waste’ in need on ‘improvement’ many wetlands in the developed world are now perceived as valuable habitats enjoying protected status. The peatlands and alluvial terrain of the Marais Vernier form one such area, where numerous conflicts arose over the centuries regarding the ‘appropriate’ use of land. During the seventeenth century, Dutch drainage engineers constructed an embankment to protect the ‘old marsh’ from the River Seine. The scheme met with only partial success and was followed by many proposals for improvement. Reclamation of mudflats and alluvial deposits in the nineteenth century, partly to improve navigation, proved successful and increased the surface of the Marais Vernier. In the wake of World War II, attempts at thorough drainage and intensive cultivation failed. Thereafter, the Marais Vernier was reappraised as part of the ‘green zone’ to separate the spread of urbanisation between Rouen and Le Havre. In 1974 the wetlands, with their migratory birds and stretches of common land for grazing and hunting, were incorporated into a regional nature park whose dual aim is nature conservation and sustainable development. From being contested ‘agricultural space’ across the centuries, the Marais Vernier has become a hybrid of ‘conservation and recreation space’ in which conflicts of land-use interest still require tactful management.
From being viewed as ‘waste’ in need on ‘improvement’ many wetlands in the developed world are now perceived as valuable habitats enjoying protected status. The peatlands and alluvial terrain of the Marais Vernier form one such area, where numerous conflicts arose over the centuries regarding the ‘appropriate’ use of land. During the seventeenth century, Dutch drainage engineers constructed an embankment to protect the ‘old marsh’ from the River Seine. The scheme met with only partial success and was followed by many proposals for improvement. Reclamation of mudflats and alluvial deposits in the nineteenth century, partly to improve navigation, proved successful and increased the surface of the Marais Vernier. In the wake of World War II, attempts at thorough drainage and intensive cultivation failed. Thereafter, the Marais Vernier was reappraised as part of the ‘green zone’ to separate the spread of urbanisation between Rouen and Le Havre. In 1974 the wetlands, with their migratory birds and stretches of common land for grazing and hunting, were incorporated into a regional nature park whose dual aim is nature conservation and sustainable development. From being contested ‘agricultural space’ across the centuries, the Marais Vernier has become a hybrid of ‘conservation and recreation space’ in which conflicts of land-use interest still require tactful management.
The Marais Vernier: a landscape biography
Clout, Hugh (author)
Landscape History ; 28 ; 63-76
2006-01-01
14 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
LA MISE EN VALEUR AGRICOLE DU MARAIS-VERNIER
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Le Marais : guide historique et architectural
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