Flora and fauna

The Viroin-Hermeton Nature Park covers an area of over 20,000 hectares and extends across the combined municipalities of Doische and Viroinval. The park covers four geographical zones: Condoz de L’Hermeton, Fagne schisteuse, Calestienne, and Ardenne.

The area comprises 19 nature reserves.

The Domaine des Nobertins is located in Oignies, one of the eight villages of Viroinval. Here, the nature park extends between Couvin and the French border.

The Viroin-Hermeton Nature Park boasts a rich and diverse sub-Mediterranean flora. Globeflowers, rockroses, cinquefoils, gentians, hellebore, and wild orchids form a veritable carpet of flowers on the unforested plots.

Lakes, rivers, springs, winding valleys, steep slopes, and deep forests; The valleys of living water, a unique natural treasure in Belgium!

In the northern part of the park runs the Calestienne, a limestone strip approximately 130 kilometers long, part of which has eroded. It runs from Trélon, just across the French border in the west, to Aywaille in the province of Liège in the east. It forms the transition between the lower-lying Fagne-Famenne region in the north and the Ardennes in the south. The hilly, stony soil is not really suitable for agriculture, but sheep and goats do find dry plants to their liking.

The calcareous grasslands, limestone hills, caves, and deep gorges are very characteristic of the nature park. The most famous are Le Fondry des Chiens and Le Fondry Matricolo.

Le Fondry de Chiens, a classified nature reserve located around Nismes, is the best known of the two. This nature reserve features bizarre rock formations resembling canyons (Rocky Mountains in America). The thirty-meter-deep and two-hundred-meter-wide ravine was carved into the limestone by water.

Besides the formidable flora, such as wild orchids and other typical calcareous plants, the region is also known for its rich entomofauna (insect species).

In summer, numerous rare grasshoppers can be found: Katydick, Broad-shinned Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Grasshopper, and Blue-winged Grasshopper.

Butterfly species such as the Orange Heath, the Common Heath, the Brown Heath, the Purple Fritillary, the Large Chequered Blue, the Yellow-veined Blue, the Black-veined Blue, the Two-colored Heath, the Large Pearl-bordered Fritillary, the Purple Emperor, and the Little Blue can also be admired here.

Bird lovers will also find plenty to enjoy here; you can hear and see the corncrake, the nightingale, the great grey shrike, and the grasshopper warbler.

Furthermore, you can also admire the crested newt, wall lizards, the black adder, mountain crickets, beetles, dragonflies, grass snakes, badgers, wild cats, whooper swans, nightjars, and the little owl.

Mushroom enthusiasts, which are ubiquitous in autumn, will certainly find plenty to enjoy here: cloud fungus, fly agaric, wood fungus, boletus, and tube mushroom. In short, a true paradise for nature lovers.

Two river sources, the Eau Noire and the Eau Blanche, flow through the nature park. The Eau Noire, the black water (the river is darkened by the peat residue it carries), originates in Cul-des-Sarts in the far south of the province of Namur. Just past Couvin, part of the river runs underground through the "Grottes de Neptune." The Eau Blanche, the white water, originates in Seloignes in the far south of the province of Hainaut. It flows through the Calestienne, just past Mariembourg, between Nismes and Dourbes. At the "Roche à Lomme," the two rivers converge to form the Viroin.

A 9km walk through this unique landscape begins at the church in Nismes. Wear sturdy shoes, as there are some truly challenging sections.

The Ardennes are located in the southern part, and the vegetation consists mainly of deciduous forests and beautiful large ferns. The Domaine des Nobertins is part of this beautiful wooded area.

The Ardennes are densely forested, resulting in a wealth of wildlife, such as wild boar, deer, birds of prey, mouflon, foxes, roe deer, and the like.

The foxglove is also very beautiful, towering above the many ferns. The plant grows 30-150 cm tall and blooms from May to October. Other nice names for this plant are "pipe head" or "doll's shoe." A plant can have more than ninety flowers and thousands of seeds. This plant is highly poisonous!

The plant is considered a witches' herb. A witches' herb is a plant that, according to legend, was frequently used by so-called witches and herbalists for a specific effect. The witches' herbs (or parts of the plants) contain substances with certain hallucinogenic, narcotic, medicinal, sedative, or other properties. The plants are often highly poisonous; symptoms of poisoning can sometimes occur upon skin contact.

The wild strawberry is also common in May and June.

The distance to the sea and the terrain influence the climate. The Ardennes are the first barrier to showers coming from the sea and are therefore very rainy. Due to their altitude, it is generally 5° cooler there than in lower-lying areas. From November to March, it is a snowy region, and a snow depth of 50-60 cm is not unusual. In a very severe winter with heavy precipitation, a snow depth of 70 cm is not out of the question; several times a century, the Ardennes experience more than a meter of snow.