Wildlife in the city

Piles of wood, scree, nest boxes, bat houses and insect hotels are installed to provide refuge and nesting areas. Some planted areas (copses) are protected from public and domestic animal intrusion by fences that allow small wildlife to circulate.

The City's green space managers act to encourage the development of wildlife by applying these principles:

• Preserving existing natural features such as dead branches, tree stumps, cut tree trunks and rock piles helps create shelters, refuge and breeding areas for wildlife
• Installing nesting boxes for birds and bat roostsmice
• Putting the public and domestic wildlife at a distance, affecting the tranquility of wildlife in certain areas
• Enabling animals to move easily between the various natural areas they frequent.

Bat shelters, nest boxes for birds and insect hotels for different species are installed in the parks of Montpellier. These devices should be positioned in a low-disturbance area, sheltered from prevailing winds.

The City's green space managers ensure the installation and maintenance of bat lodges or nest boxes, made of untreated wood.

Stonespits and dry stone walls constitute micro-habitats that need to be preserved or created in green spaces to welcome wildlife: reptiles, insects, snails...

Protecting nature areas, the existing tree and shrub heritage, planting hedges, desilting and restoring watercourses encourage the movement of small wildlife.

There are simple gestures such as making small openings at the foot of wire fences to facilitate the movement of hedgehogs.

For squirrels, 3 ecuroducts (aerial devices for crossing a road between 2 wooded areas)have been installed in Montpellier between the Montmaur wood and the zoo de Lunaret. The city's ambition is to position new ones or improve existing ones in the light of an ongoing study into the location of squirrel populations in the city.

Pollinator populations are now in steep decline due to human activities and intensive agriculture. Saving pollinators is a major issue, as the food security of human societies and the sustainability of the plant world depend on it.

Pollination is ensured by the honey bee, which produces honey, but also and above all by wild pollinators, which are still relatively unknown.

There are over 900 species of wild bee in France, and these solitary species do not require hives.

Syrphids, beetles and butterflies are also wild pollinators, essential for the pollination of both wild and cultivated plant species.

Protecting wild pollinators

The "Guide de bonnes pratiques: prise en compte de la faune dans les pratiques de gestion des espaces verts et naturels de la Ville de Montpellier" recommends a number of measures:

• Preserve spontaneous flora (allow native plants to thrive) and opt for ecological garden management,
• Make late mowing of grassed areas that allow insects to enjoy the flowering of different species,
• Preserve unmowed areas, areas left fallow that will serve as refuge areas,
• Plant local flowering plants :
  • Aromatics: lavender, rosemary... Flowering meadow species, hedges
  • Flowering shrubs and trees (hawthorns, blackthorns, viburnums, almond trees....),
Diversify the species planted for flowering spread over the year,
• Limit or avoid implanting high densities of honeybee hives to avoid competition phenomena for resources with wild pollinators,
• Develop micro-flowering (street climbing plantations) of diversified species, and revegetation of tree bases allowing vegetation to be reintroduced into mineralized spaces.

A few simple gestures are all it takes to transform green spaces and gardens into insect refuges:

• Save dead wood (trunks, branches) and practice shredding plant matter to encourage soil life,
• Save empty snail shells, which provide ideal shelter for certain species of solitary bees,
• Keep grassed areas unmowed all year round,
• Equip sand and earth piles,
• Install insect hotels,
• Diversify the types of environments in the design of spaces: meadows, hedgerows, woodlands, some areas of bare earth are all favorable environments for different species.

Reptiles and amphibians are all protected in France. Amphibians, which include frogs, toads, newts and salamanders, don't always live in water, but need it to reproduce. This is not the case for reptiles (snakes, lizards and turtles), which lay their eggs on land.

Amphibians and reptiles occupy an important place in the food chain. They are excellent indicators of a healthy environment.

To encourage their development, the City of Montpellier takes care to:

• Create suitable refuges such as piles of stones or branches,
• Check hedge edges, riverbanks and watering holes before intervening,
• Do not capture the animals, but let them escape quietly.