Bêche River, Natural Reserve Gérard & Francis Paquay (Belgium)

The Bêche River is a tributary of the Amblève catchment, situated in the Haute Ardennes. The region was once characterised by the abundance of high-value moor habitats, that were perceived as poor or marginal land. In a context of forest loss and sinking profits from peat cutting, national policies incentivised the draining of moorlands and bogs, so the land could be dedicated to more profitable uses, namely forestry and wood production. As a result, large areas of moorland were replaced with spruce forests.

With time, this management strategy proved to significantly impair ecosystems’ ability to retain water, accelerating water runoff and erosion, besides impacting on native biodiversity.

Works to recover the valuable moor habitats in the Bêche sub-catchment were initiated by the Belgian NGO Natagora, which gradually acquired land in the area and applied for its designation as a protected area. The protected status was confirmed by the government in 2024 with the declaration of the Réserve naturelle Gérard & Francis Paquay (Quatre-Vents)
Prior to the designation, the first restoration measures undertaken by the NGO consisted in removing some areas of spruce forests.
Later, in 2021, intense summer rains caused major flooding of the Amblève River. Post-event analysis showed that drainage in upper catchments like the Bêche accelerated runoff, increasing flood peaks downstream.
As part of the Horizon REWET project, Wetlands International is working with Natagora to restore the ‘natural sponge’ quality of the site, by blocking drainage channels, installing some dams and elevating the water table. By doing so, the project seeks to improve infiltration, enabling the ecosystem to store the water for a longer time and release it more gradually to prevent severe floods. Furthermore, the project is monitoring ecosystem performance in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions.