Marquise quarry basin: 30 years of combining economic activity and landscape protection

Quarrying

In the Marquise region, quarries were exploited for their ores, particularly chalk and limestone. This economic activity, which is very old, is strongly rooted in the territory but is also not without consequences on the surrounding landscapes. Indeed, extraction also causes the production of waste rock, materials that cannot be exploited and are often stored on the surface, thus disrupting the landscape. Indeed, quarrying activity in Marquise and its surroundings can generate the equivalent of 57 million cubic meters in 30 years, or 13 times the size of Mont Saint-Michel.

A new landscape plan

Until the 90s, each quarry negotiated directly with the municipality in which it was located. The aim was obviously to store as much waste rock as possible on the smallest possible surface. In 1995, a local initiative was launched by the State, the Regional Natural Park, the local authorities and the quarrymen: the Quarry Basin Landscape Plan.

Objectives and actions to be carried out

This approach aims to combine local economic activity and landscape protection. It is a question of coordinating several elements at the level of the quarry basin as a whole:

• the maximum extension of the exploited area
• the production and disposal of waste rock, which, for the first time, is pooled between the various operating companies,
• the revegetation of waste rock deposits with local species,
• the protection of heritage sites such as the ruins of the Château de Blacourt or those of the Abbey of Beaulieu.

A final section on biodiversity

In 2014, the Landscape Plan needs to be adapted. On this occasion, a new component has been added. In addition to the protection of landscapes, the protection of biodiversity is included in the approach. Indeed, the revegetated waste rock deposits are home to a particular biodiversity, and in particular rare orchids. Naturalist monitoring is then set up.

30 years is worth celebrating

In November 2024, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of an approach that was unprecedented in France and is now being replicated in different landscapes. The objective of combining economic activity and respect for landscapes and biodiversity has rather been achieved. There is still work to be done, in particular to return to nature the sites that can no longer be exploited.

In the meantime, a whole series of activities for the general public is organised in the spring of 2025 to discover the Marquise quarry basin!