Educational path ENS of the Bordes Chalonges

The ENS Les Bordes Chalonges, covering an area of 65 hectares, overlooks a meander of the Ancœur stream, a small watercourse that has carved its bed into the Brie plateau. The woodland is part of the Villefermoy forest massif of around a thousand hectares.In old French, "Borde" means a small house or a small agricultural holding, which differs from a farm by the absence of an enclosing wall. The Bombon area has always been dedicated to agriculture : wheat, oats, sugar beet on the richest land, and vines on the sunny slope of the Ancœur. The end of the 19th century saw the rise of large-scale farming. Thus, from 1870 to 1900, the vineyard shrank from 40 to 10 hectares, the woodland reclaimed the fallow land, while cereal crops doubled their surface area and the optimisation of yields reduced the number of farms from 91 to 7 ! It was at this time that the mill, the press and the oil mill, which until then had allowed everyone to process the fruit of the harvests, ceased their activity. The quarrying of millstones from the 17th century in the surrounding area probably explains the presence, not far from the pond, of a broken millstone. But this activity remained minor in comparison with the millstone quarries of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre (departmental ENS of the Bois de la Barre). In the 19th century, several sand and sandstone quarries were in operation for construction and paving. In the course of history, the site has belonged to many families. One of its most illustrious owners was Pierre-Marie Durand, the famous "King of the Kilowatt". In 1941, then mayor of Bombon, he purchased various plots to form an estate of 1,400 hectares, representing 93% of the municipal territory, of which Les Bordes Chalonges forms a part. These were subsequently acquired by the Department in two steps : the northern part in 1992 and the southern part in 2002. Before its acquisition by the Department, it was primarily subject to silvicultural management : the northern part was transformed into a poplar grove in 1977, while, from 1980, the southern part was managed to transition from coppice to an oak high forest, where 11 hectares of ash trees were also planted. Today the management of the site is ensured by the Fédération Départementale des Chasseurs de Seine-et-Marne in partnership with the Office National des Forêts. The forest ponds are home to 7 species of amphibians and certain heritage floristic species such as the bladderwort. The variety of woodland allows for the existence of a rich variety of birds, including in particular the middle spotted woodpecker, the coal tit and the wood warbler. The mown wet meadows along the banks of the Ancoeur constitute a remarkable habitat in Seine-et-Marne. Many butterflies are present there. Two marked trails allow visitors to discover the hidden treasures of the site. Natural environments present : woodland, riverbanks, ponds Site interests : botany, entomology, ornithology, amphibians Particularities : Ancoeur valley Managing and coordinating body : Fédération Départementale des Chasseurs de Seine-et-Marne.

Former ecclesiastical forest and royal hunting ground of King Louis XVI, the Domanial Forest of Villefermoy, in Seine-et-Marne, became state property in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is today a Natura 2000 zone.60km from Paris and 20km from Melun, located on the municipalities of Échouboulains, Les Écrennes, Valence-en-Brie, Pamfou, La Chapelle-Gauthier, Fontenailles, La Chapelle-Rablais, Coutençon and Laval-en-Brie, this vast and beautiful oak forest is composed of two entities separated by an agricultural zone : the "Forêt de Villefermoy" to the West and the "Bois de Saint-Germain-Laval" to the East. The Villefermoy massif has a long history that can still be found today in the layout of forest roads and above all in the presence of ancient remains. Although its existence has only been attested since the Carolingian era, human activity there is far older. Humans did indeed roam this woodland domain as far back as the Neolithic. It has been inhabited and used, temporarily or permanently, since the Gallo-Roman era. As a former ecclesiastical forest, it was the property of the abbeys of Barbeau, Preuilly, Saint-Germain des Prés and the Commanderie de l'Ordre de Malte de la Croix en Brie before the Revolution. An extension of the Haie de Brie, it served, in the Middle Ages, as a natural boundary between the possessions of the Count of Champagne and the domain of the King of France. The monks exploited it to produce timber and firewood which they used in their abbeys. A forest warden, "Hugues garde des bois" (Hugo custos nemorum), was moreover appointed as early as 1140 in order to oversee the woodland and its exploitation ! The forest gradually became, through exchanges and acquisitions, state property during the 19th and 20th centuries. Its management was then entrusted to the Eaux et Forêts administration and subsequently to the Office National des Forêts (ONF) in 1964. Located at the heart of the humid clay plateau of the Brie, its surface extends over 2641 hetares and presents a fairly flat relief (between 105 and 135m in altitude). It includes a network of ponds and wetlands that shelter a great diversity of amphibians, including several protected species : European tree frog, Grass frog, Spotted salamander, Palmate newt... Rich in more than 120 bird species, it is part of the Natura 2000 zone "Massif de Villefermoy". There are 7 rare and protected nesting species : European honey buzzard, Hen harrier, Black kite, Common kingfisher, Grey-headed woodpecker, Middle spotted woodpecker and Black woodpecker. Populated by roe deer, wild boar and hares, Villefermoy is structured by large straight alleys interspersed with star-shaped crossroads, which bear witness to a long hunting tradition. The fertile soils of the Domanial Forest of Villefermoy are very favourable to the growth of sessile oak. Some of them reach exceptional dimensions. A few remarkable trees are listed and preserved during felling. Since 2006, the living heritage has led the State to classify the entire massif as a Natura 2000 zone (European ecological protection network) for the preservation of birdlife. In total, 4,790 hectares, of which 55% is state forest, are part of the "Natura 2000 Special Protection Zone Massif de Villefermoy" (ZPS). Several kilometers of paved road, gravelled or natural terrain roads are open to the public at Villefermoy. Some paths are marked, such as the long-distance hiking trail of Thibaud de Champagne, the short hiking trails of Grand Grippon and Bois des Moines or walking circuits (paths of the Brie Nangissienne, loop of the 2 massifs). Equipped areas (Huit Routes, Ru Guérin, Pavé de Boulains, Grandvilliers) with car parks, picnic tables, and information points allow walkers to fully enjoy the forest. Other parking areas are also distributed along the roads crossing the massif. (see map)