Cévennes National Park

▪ park, Lozère/Gard, France

      nature reserve located in the départements of Lozère and Gard, southern France. The park, created in 1970, occupies 353 square miles (913 square km) of the Cévennes and Causses regions southeast of the Massif Central. It is dominated by calcareous (limestone) plateaus, the highest point being Mount Lozère (5,584 feet [1,702 m]). Forests cover more than half the park; trees include evergreen oaks, chestnuts, common and durmast oaks, beeches, Scots pines, and birches. There are about 1,700 flowering plants, the most notable being wild daffodils, martagon lilies, and lady's slipper orchids. Matgrass and hair grass abound. The local bird population, once abundant but decimated by hunting prior to the creation of the park, still includes golden eagles, peregrine falcons, hen harriers, Montague's harriers, eagle owls, stone curlews, and little bustards. Animals include otters, badgers, foxes, martens, wild boars, roe deer, and moufflons, and livestock are allowed to graze. The castle of Roquedols has been ceded to the park. More than 584,000 acres (236,300 hectares) adjoining the park have been designated as a peripheral, or buffer, zone.

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