Camargue, largest river delta in Western Europe
The Camargue, or Camarga in Occitan, is a vast delta formed by the two branches of the Rhône River. The Grande Camargue is located in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in Provence, while the Petite Camargue is in the Gard department in Languedoc-Roussillon.
With an impressive area of 930 square kilometres, the Camargue is the largest river delta in Western Europe. Designated a “Major Wetland of World Heritage” on December 1, 1986, it comprises one-third salt marshes, as well as farmland, rice paddies, meadows, and reed-beds.
Its coastline is marked by dunes and sandbanks, which separate it from the Mediterranean Sea. Many of the Camargue’s lakes are remnants of former tributaries of the Rhône, the largest, the Étang de Vaccarès, being located in its centre. Created as a regional park in 1927, its importance led to its integration into the Camargue Regional Natural Park in 2008.
A haven for wildlife
The Camargue is home to extraordinary biodiversity and constitutes a true sanctuary for wildlife, including the pink flamingo, a symbol of the region.
It is also home to more than 400 bird species, earning it recognition as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.
Maintaining these diverse bird populations requires an abundant food source, which the wetlands provide thanks to a wide variety of insects, despite the sometimes bothersome presence of mosquitoes.
In addition to birds, the Camargue’s fauna includes the famous Camargue grey horses, whose ancestral lineage dates back to the delta’s origins, although their exact origins remain a mystery. Roaming almost freely across the vast plains, these horses are ridden exclusively by the gardians, the Provence equivalent of cowboys.
In addition to horses, the herders also raise fighting bulls, primarily for the bullfights of Languedoc and Spain, a tradition that is not universally accepted.
Within this diverse ecosystem, lush flora flourishes, a mix of lavender, rosemary, thyme, tamarisk, and wild reeds, contributing to the Camargue’s unique charm.
However, the delta, subject to constant variations in the river’s flow, is indeed in constant transformation. The Rhône indeed deposits approximately 20 million cubic metres of sediment there each year, gradually extending the delta into the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, Aigues-Mortes, founded as a Roman port in 102 BC, is now located 5 kilometres inland. To counter this expansion, additional dikes and dams have been built in recent decades.
If you wish to delve deeper into the delta’s rich heritage, a 14,000-hectare open-air museum offers a glimpse into the region’s history, as well as its diverse flora and fauna, through wetlands, pastures, dunes, and salt marshes.
A nature park and agricultural land
The Camargue is one of the most magnificent and wild regions of southern France, rightly protected and cherished.
The 820 square kilometres Camargue Regional Natural Park was created in 1970 to preserve this magnificent alluvial delta, a fertile land inhabited since antiquity.
Indeed, our distant ancestors already exploited the salt marshes to harvest precious sea salt, a tradition that continues today with a thriving industry.
Benedictine and Cistercian monks shaped the landscape, draining the wetlands and building dikes to cultivate rice paddies and develop the salt marshes industry, thus enriching their abbeys of Ulmet, Franquevaux, and Psalmody.
Today, industrial giants, such as Pechiney and Solvay, oversee the mass production of sea salt, perpetuating this ancestral practice.
The northern part of the delta is dedicated to cereal crops, rice paddies, and vineyards, thus contributing to the region’s agricultural diversity.
However, despite its natural splendour and agricultural productivity, the Camargue is not simply a vast expanse of wetlands and cultivated fields; it also boasts some charming towns.
Arles is located north of the delta where the Rhône River splits and is the capital of the Camargue. Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, on the coast, and Aigues-Mortes, in the Petite Camargue, are two other important towns, each boasting an exceptional historical heritage.
Department of Bouches-du-Rhône
Coordinates: Lat 43.506746 – Long 4.525681
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Pink flamingos by Olga1969 License – Horse Marais du Vigueirat by Tylwyth Eldar CC BY-SA 4.0 – Gardian and Header by Georges Seguin (Okki) CC BY-SA 4.0 – Landscape and Reeds by Jac. Janssen CC BY 2.0 – Seen from the salt marshes by Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert CC BY-SA 4.0
