Cerisy Forest (''forêt de Cerisy'' or ''forêt de Balleroy''), is a

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

woodland (75% of the land), located in the French

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

and

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Office national des forêts The National Forests Office (french: Office national des forêts), or ONF, is a Government of France agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves. ONF is based in Paris. The office is responsible for the sustainab ...

(ONF). At Cerisy, its goal partly resides in the conservation of an endemical golden sub-species of carabus auronitens : protected at national level.

Fauna

One can sight

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

stag Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reind ...

roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked ing ...

, as well as

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by th ...

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

. One is advised to be careful and not perturb the population on foot as well as by car, as accidents are frequent. Birds and other predators are varied and diverse; one can spot the

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and ,

middle spotted woodpecker The middle spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocoptes medius'') is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus '' Dendrocoptes''. Taxonomy The middle spotted woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the ...

long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...

and many other species, a pleasant area for both amateurs and ornithologists. Amphibians and insects also constitute a huge wealth, namely the golden endemic carabus auronitens (''Chrysocarabus auronitens ssp cupreonitens'') but also

Alpine newt The alpine newt (''Ichthyosaura alpestris'') is a species of newt native to continental Europe and introduced to Great Britain and New Zealand. Adults measure and are usually dark grey to blue on the back and sides, with an orange belly and thro ...

palmate newt The palmate newt (''Lissotriton helveticus'') is a species of newt found in Western Europe, from Great Britain to the northern Iberian peninsula. It is long and olive or brown with some dark spots. The underside is yellow to orange, and the thr ...

agile frog The agile frog (''Rana dalmatina'') is a European frog in the genus ''Rana'' of the true frog family, Ranidae. Description This species is fat and has long limbs and a pointy snout. Adult males are rarely larger than 6.5 cm, while females ...

salamanders Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All te ...

. There are also remarkable butterflies and reptiles like the

adder Adder may refer to: * AA-12 Adder, a Russian air-to-air missile * Adder (electronics), an electronic circuit designed to do addition * Adder Technology, a manufacturing company * Armstrong Siddeley Adder, a late 1940s British turbojet engine * ''B ...

and

common lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning it ...

Flora

Cerisy Forest is made up 75% of

, 12%

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and 3%

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and or ...

. There are also many other breeds such as

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelate ...

black alder Black alder is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Alnus glutinosa'', native to Europe and widely naturalized *''Ilex verticillata ''Ilex verticillata'', the winterberry, is a species of holly native to eastern North America i ...

. shrubs :

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergree ...

, knee holm (protégé en forêt de Cerisy),

walnut tree Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leaflets; t ...

and many flowers :

wood spurge ''Euphorbia amygdaloides'', the wood spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to woodland locations in Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is a bushy evergreen perennial, growing to a height of , with dark green ...

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sh ...

thimbleweed Thimbleweed is the common name of any of several plants with seed heads resembling a thimble. Species called thimbleweed include: *''Rudbeckia laciniata'' *''Anemone cylindrica'' *''Anemone hupehensis'' *''Anemone nemorosa ''Anemonoides nemoros ...

. Route forestière Cerisy.JPG, La route forestière de la Chênesse Etang du Titre.JPG, L'étang du Titre Borne royale forêt Cérisy.JPG, La borne royale

Surroundings

Cerisy-la-Forêt Cerisy-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Manche department of Normandy in north-western France. It has a population of 1,036 inhabitants (2019) and possesses an important environmental and architectural heritage. The area has been occupied sinc ...

is a village to the west of the forest. Its 11th century abbey was built on the site of a priory founded in 510 by

Saint Vigor Saint Vigor (french: Saint Vigor, Vigeur; la, Vigor, Vigorus) (died circa 537 AD) was a French bishop and Christian missionary. Life Born into the nobility in Artois, he studied at Arras under Saint Vedast. His father would not grant approval f ...

, bishop of Bayeux. it is a benedictine monastery. *

Le Molay-Littry Le Molay-Littry () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. History On 23 January 1969 Le Molay (the old INSEE code was 14434) merged with the old commune of Littry to form ''Le Molay-Littry'', w ...

is a town north of the forest. It hosted the only coal mine in Normandy, of which a museum now stands. *

Balleroy Balleroy () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Balleroy-sur-Drôme. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Biardais'' o ...

is a village south of the forest.

Balleroy Castle Balleroy () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Balleroy-sur-Drôme. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Biardais'' ...

(designed by

François Mansart François Mansart (; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century Fr ...

) was built from 1626 to 1636.

Other sites

* La maison de la Forêt et du Tourisme (expositions sur la faune et flore en forêt de Cerisy, métiers liés au bois, animations pour groupes et individuels). * Le moulin de Marcy au Molay-Littry. * Les jardins de Castillon. * Les étangs de Planquery. * Le jardin d'Elle à Villiers-Fossard. * Le parc des Sources d'

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foret de Cerisy Forests of France Geography of Normandy