Thier de Loën rehabilitation

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Objective

The Loën quarry is situated between the “Mountain St Peter” and the “Low Valley of the Geer’s river”, both Natura 2000 areas of high biological interest. The current quarry rehabilitation works aim to partially restore the original relief and the pre-existing ecological lawns of interest, similar to those of the neighboring Natura 2000 zones, as well as the creation of natural banks in the excavated pond.

Context

The Loën quarry supplied the Lixhe cement works with the necessary raw material. It continues to supply the Romont factory in Eben-Emael (Bassenge). The area provides a very wide variety of botanical and animal species, including many uncommon and even extremely rare species in the Walloon Region, notably a very large variety of orchids, numerous burying insects, rare butterflies and an important population of wintering bats.

Solutions

At the end of its exploitation, a surface area of 150 ha will normally have been used. The quarry is divided into 2 parts, called Phase 1 and Phase 2, separated by the Wonck railway tunnel (Geer tunnel). Only Phase 2 is currently for extraction activities. Phase 1 is actually exempt from any extracting activity and is the object of an ecological and landscape refitting.

The creation of natural banks on the edges of the excavated pond aim to facilitate the plantation of typical vegetation (reeds, bulrushes, rushes,..) and to increase the habitat potential for aquatic fauna (dragonflies, amphibians, aquatic birds, diving beetles,...).

The two remarkable zones will be almost completely reunited through flora of diverse high biological interest.

Results

Ecological areas such as light slopes, muddy areas, rocky beaches, reed beds and small ponds have already been recreated. Once the quarrying activities have come to an end, the quarry will be returned to the public domain and become a zone of ecological interest.