Short-Term Coastal Impact Of Lakeshore For Natural Reserve Protection

Abstract

The site of Grangettes, which is registered as a natural reserve of national and international importance for waterowl and migratory birds (i.e. OROEM site), is considered the last part of the Swiss lakeshore of Lake Geneva that remains natural. This area hosts a wide variety of coastal ecosystems, containing significant natural values located both in aquatic and in terrestrial areas of the reserve. Because of repetitive localized dredging activities of the lake bottom since the last century, a severe withdraw of the shoreline and its associated natural values has been observed between 1964 and 2001 close to the « Gros Brasset » dredge pit.