Mountain Volunteers Revive Drying Ponds: Swift Nature Recovery After Drought

Mountain Wetlands Restoration by Volunteers

Plateau de la Molière (Vercors), reportage

Armed with shovels, picks, a few pruners, fluorescent orange gloves, and tall rubber boots, a group of about ten people gather on a sunny September morning in the Vercors. They are preparing for a unique conservation project. Their goal is the Robertière pond, nestled in the heart of the sensitive natural area of Molière-Sornin and within a Natura 2000 site.

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“We’re going to clear out the overgrowth and do some earthworks to reopen the area to aquatic species,” explains Jean-Baptiste Decotte, team leader for ecosystems and renaturation at the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), which is co-organizing the project with the Vercors Regional Nature Park.

Due to droughts and heatwaves, the Robertière pond has gradually dried up over the past few years. The water level has dropped, allowing vegetation such as carex, a plant that thrives in moist soils, to dominate the area. Dead plant matter has accumulated, suffocating the pond’s natural ecosystem. Species that typically inhabit and breed in the pond, such as common frogs, alpine newts, and several species of dragonflies, have had their life cycles disrupted in recent years.

Equipped with shovels and picks, the day’s volunteers—local residents, park members, and LPO staff—venture into the pond. They tackle the task of removing the carex by digging up its roots from the mud. The work is physically demanding, and progress is slow in the pond, which measures 20 meters in length and 30 meters in width.

“We are making progress bit by bit,” comments Christian, a local volunteer, his face flushed from exertion. “People pay for mud baths,” jokes Alan, a seasonal park ranger, his face and arms caked in mud.

As they clear the vegetation, small alpine newt tadpoles and dragonfly larvae become visible in the few centimeters of water at the bottom of the pond. “It’s late for the newts. It could be a result of climate change. They probably delayed their spawning until the water returned,” observes Jean-Baptiste Decotte.

Early autumn is considered the ideal time for such a project to minimize damage, as most species have already spawned and left the pond. “Every project causes some disturbance, but we believe the benefits outweigh the negatives,” explains Nathalie Lécrivain, who is in charge of the Molière-Sornin sensitive natural area.

“It’s impressive how quickly life returns to the ponds,” says Jean-Baptiste Decotte. “Considering the area covered, the energy expended, and the gain for biodiversity, few actions are as effective. Moreover, these projects are not very expensive; the main cost is in the organization.”

The project cost about 3,000 euros, with 2,000 euros funded by the Molière-Sornin sensitive natural area and 1,000 euros by the Natura 2000 zone.

Later in the day, a mechanical digger takes over from the volunteers to remove more aquatic vegetation. As the pond becomes clearer, the volunteers focus on collecting as many larvae and tadpoles as possible. The young insects and amphibians are temporarily housed in containers and will be returned to the water once the project is complete to minimize disruption.

“Always keep your hands wet when handling them because they are very sensitive,” advises Flora, a civic service volunteer for the LPO, as she carefully transports a newt tadpole.

“This pond has always had an ecological purpose,” explains Nathalie Lécrivain. Originally created in the 1990s by the keeper of the Molière lodge from a smaller natural pond, its role is to serve as a biodiversity refuge in an area where wetlands are scarce. “The Vercors massif is karstic, so water is quickly drained. If wetlands are formed, they are often temporary, drying up naturally each year,” she adds. In the ecosystem of the Molière plateau, the Robertière pond acts as a biodiversity oasis.

Through a dedicated program, Alpi’mares, the LPO is restoring more and more high-altitude ponds like this one. “Various factors contribute to a pond’s drying up, including human activities, design mistakes at the time of creation, and climate change. During summer, there can be periods of one and a half to two months without rain. Ponds are attractive in spring when they are water-filled, but they dry up quickly and become deadly traps for the biodiversity that has settled within,” explains Jean-Baptiste Decotte.

In France, with increasing urbanization, the practice of intensive agriculture, and various human interventions, half of the wetlands were lost between the 1960s and 1990s, according to the French Office for Biodiversity.

“In the Vercors, they are in rather poor conservation status, poorly listed and therefore poorly protected,” says Chrystelle Caton, mission officer for the Vercors Regional Nature Park’s Communal Biodiversity Atlas, an initiative cataloging local fauna and flora. “It’s all the more important to preserve them as they will help maintain a biodiversity reservoir that is part of a whole, an entire food chain that will have a broader impact.”

Once the pond is restored, autumn rains and cold-season precipitation should gradually refill it, allowing for a resurgence of biodiversity in the spring. “They’re predicting rain this week,” notes Nathalie Lécrivain, “it should heal soon.”