Brandes de Soyaux

Soyaux, France, France

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Brandes de Soyaux is a vast 70-hectare natural site of shrub heathland located in Soyaux, Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, representing the largest heathland site in the Charente department.

Formerly used for decades as a military training ground and camp, the area also had earlier history as quarry land, and after the military activities ceased, nature reclaimed its rights, creating a unique habitat with great ecological richness. The shrub heathland consists primarily of brambles (called "brande" locally), including various species of broom (especially broom brush), ajoncs (gorse), and genêts, growing on acidic soils of sand and clay that give the terrain ochre and reddish hues, unusual for a region dominated by limestone.

The Site des Brandes de Soyaux is particularly home to the Mediterranean small-fauvette pitchou, a rare bird in the Charente, as well as the European nightjar recognizable by its distinctive song and wing-clapping sound, and the habitat supports many other animal species including salamanders in temporary ponds.