Follow the interactive droving trail !
The Causses and the Cevennes are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and contain many remarkable sites, such as the Grands Causses Regional Nature Park and Cévennes National Park which has been recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve in the “organically evolved, continuing landscape” category and more recently as an "International Dark Sky Reserve".
This universal heritage reflects humankind’s evolution - the protohistoric period with its megalithic heritage (dolmens and menhirs), the Middle Ages with its Romanesque chapels, the abbeys of the great religious orders (Templars, Hospitaller), and then pre-mechanised agriculture (dry stone shelters, ovens, bell-gables, wash houses). Today, this heritage is carefully preserved thanks to ambassadors (tourism and agriculture professionals), and through eco-museums, themed trails etc.
This protected natural environment presents exceptional biodiversity linked to the mixed farming which combines herds of livestock and the production of fodder. These herds (sheep, cattle and goats), that may have a fixed location or be moved seasonally, play a crucial role in the maintenance of open mountainous spaces and are particularly appreciated by hikers. In parallel with the livestock, crops are planted in the spring and harvested in the summer; there is haymaking, berry and mushroom picking in the summer and autumn, cheese making, leather tanning, and beekeeping in log-hives. These traditional hives are formed from the hollow trunk of a chestnut tree and then covered with a flat piece of schist. They are home to colonies of Cévennes black bees… Some can be found under the chalets, but don’t worry, they are uninhabited!
