A unique natural setting
Since 1979, the Langazel association has been fighting to preserve this remarkable heritage, once destined to become a household waste shredding plant. Today, the rich biodiversity and importance of preserving this ecosystem are widely recognized. This natural area is part of the European Natura 2000 network and has been designated a regional nature reserve in 2022.
The peat bog
A unique site in Brittany, Langazel is considered to be the oldest peat bog in the region. The process of peat formation began 11,700 years ago. Peat is a vegetable soil made up of plant debris which, due to a lack of oxygen, cannot decompose and accumulates slowly over the years. Once dried, it becomes combustible. In Langazel, this resource has long been exploited to offset coal shortages and heat homes in the surrounding area, as well as factories in Brest and Landerneau.
Even today, as you stroll around the site, you can still make out the old peat extraction pits.
Remarkable biodiversity
Birds, fish, orchids and insects share this exceptional little corner of nature. Together, they form an organized society with an intact food chain. Preserving the habitat of grassland insects, the mainstay of the food chain for many birds, is helping to bring back endangered species such as small passerines, 30% of which have disappeared in the last ten years.
Choose the season for your visit!
May - June is the ideal time to admire the flowers and observe the many butterflies.
In September, the heathland is decked out in color, with pink-flowered heather and yellow European gorse!
In autumn and winter, the atmosphere is more mysterious, with some parts of the moor flooded, leaving areas where the trees gush out of the water. Boots recommended!
Those involved in preservation
Vincent Le Viol has been working at the Langazel wetland since 2016. Two salaried employees work there full-time, supported by around fifteen volunteers.
Heaths and meadows have become rare spaces, and without human intervention the environment would quickly close in and become a forest, depriving it of many animal and plant species.
At Langazel, the priority is to keep the environment open. That's why we devote the year to mowing and developing sustainable agriculture by allowing cows and horses to graze.
The idea of hiking
From the village and its woods, you move away to farmland and fields where cows graze, to find yourself in the timeless setting of the Langazel site. Brittany's oldest peat bog still holds many secrets for you to discover along its interpretation trail!
The Langazel wetland is located between Ploudaniel and Trémaouézan, in the south of the Côte des Légendes.