[Regional park of the Haut Jura - Natural reserve of the Haute Chaîne du Jura - Discovering wildlife and flora]

  Natural Reserve of Haute Chaîne du Jura

The objective of the Park is to preserve the richness of its natural inheritance while harmonizing the practices of traditional renewable industries and livelihoods such as forestry and pastoral agriculture  with the needs and opportunities of sustainable tourism and recreational development. This  concept provides the Pays de Gex mountains with a powerful and effective land management  tool.
At its most basic, the  intention is  to protect this extraordinary mountain environment from the harmful impacts of inappropriately situated or designed facilities and installations, as well as from usership pressure arising from the Genevese basin.

Appropriate management of the Park is the responsibility of the Communauté de Communes of Pays de Gex in partnership  with Parc Naturel Régional of the Haut-Jura. Three objectives have been set up: 1) protect the natural environment, 2) appropriately manage protected areas and 3) inform users of the values and opportunities presented by these landscapes.

To visit the RESERVE NATURELLE DE LA HAUTE CHAINE DU JURA

To visit the site of the natural reserves of France

Haute Chaîne of the Jura

  Discover...
The natural reserve is located at the extreme south of the Jura range, between the valley of Valserine to the west and the plain of Pays de Gex in the east, with Switzerland to north and the cluse of the Rhone to the south.
The reserve, one of the largest in France, extends across nearly 110 km2 .It includes more than 40 km of the practically continuous Monts Jura watershed.It also includes the highest peaks  of the Jura: Crêt de la Neige (1720 m), Reculet (1717 m), and Colomby de Gex (1687 m).

The reserve is segregated into land management zones, each with protective regulations safeguarding its natural environment values and features. Some of these regulations include :

- a complete or at least seasonal prohibition on motorized travel on some mountain roads,
- no dogs (even leashed) are permitted,
- open fires and camping are prohibited,
- visitors are urged to stay on the marked trails,
- no collecting of plant life is permitted,
- the disturbance of animal life is prohibited. 


Hardy cornflower

  The natural reserve is...
A remarkable natural inheritance including:
. 23 different forest habitat types
. 47 variety of alpine meadow 
. 953 over 950 species of vascular plants and many other species of  moss, lichens and fungii
. 188 vertebrate (higher animal) species, including 103 known nesting bird species

An architectural and archaeological heritage including :
. 32 mountain cottages
. 14 ruins and remains in abandoned, sometimes vanished mountain pasture villages sites

For more information, contact Réserve Naturelle de la Haute Chaîne du Jura
au 04 50 41 25 55 - 40, avenue de la Gare - 01170 GEX
[ mail ] [ site web ]

The Capercaillie