Welcome to the Vallée des Baux in Provence!

The legal base and administrative offices of A Rocha France are situated in the Vallée des Baux, close to Arles in the south eastern part of France. A Rocha’s property is also home to its own field study centre.

La Vallée des Baux

Map of the Vallée des Baux

A Rocha France carries out scientific research on the ecosystems of the Vallée des Baux. The valley is bounded to the north by the limestone hills of the Alpilles and to the south by the semi-arid plain of the Crau. The Carmargue is only 20 km south west of the valley. Lying between the Crau and the Alpilles, the Vallée des Baux covers an area 5 km wide and 20 km long. It used to contain numerous marshes, most of which were drained at the beginning of the 21st century for the purposes of cereal cultivation and breeding Carmargue bulls. Only 700 ha of the original 3500 ha of wetland which formerly made up the valley still remain.

Yet the Vallée des Baux remains a place of exceptional biological value. The most remarkable species found there include the Roller, the Purple Heron, the European Pond Terrapin and many kinds of dragonflies and orchids. For this reason the valley has been judged sufficiently important to be included in the Natura 2000 network of protected sites and in the future in a natural park area.

The Ilon estate

Situated right at the heart of the valley, the Marais de L’Ilon, which contains one of the last remaining wetlands of the Vallée des Baux, is the principal study site for A Rocha France which has signed an agreement for its management with the owner. Its 75 ha of marsh and a cliff covered in green oaks, along with 175 ha of uncultivated land on the Crau, constitute an important example of continuing biodiversity within an agricultural landscape.