Camargue

The Camargue is the Rhône River’s marshy delta in southern France, a landscape of lagoons, salt flats, and rice fields known for its white horses and black cattle.

Rhône: A major European river that flows through Switzerland and France into the Mediterranean Sea. Its two branches shape the delta’s boundaries and deliver freshwater and sediment.
Camargue Regional Nature Park: A protected area established in 1970 across much of the Rhône delta in southern France. It coordinates conservation and sustainable development across much of the Camargue.
Étang de Vaccarès: The largest lagoon in the Camargue, located within the Rhône delta. This central lagoon anchors a major part of the region’s wetland habitats.
Ramsar Convention: An international treaty adopted in 1971 to support the conservation and wise use of wetlands. The Camargue’s wetland importance is recognized through its designation under the treaty.
River delta: A landform created where a river deposits sediment as it enters a standing body of water. The Camargue is the Rhône’s delta, continually reshaped by water and sediment.
Camargue rice: Rice grown in the Rhône delta, where irrigation and drainage sustain large fields. Rice farming depends on freshwater management and shapes substantial areas of the delta.
Greater flamingo: A large pink wading bird found across parts of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe. The Camargue supports one of the Mediterranean’s best-known flamingo populations.
Biosphere reserve: A UNESCO designation for places that combine biodiversity conservation with sustainable development. UNESCO’s Camargue reserve links habitat protection with farming and local livelihoods.
Brackish water: Water with more dissolved salts than freshwater but less than seawater. Mixing river flows and Mediterranean seawater creates brackish lagoons and marshes.
Salt evaporation pond: A shallow pond where seawater evaporates, leaving salt that can be harvested. Salt production has altered coastal wetlands and remains a prominent local land use.

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