Balade - Réserve Naturelle de la grotte de Hautecourt

The Hautecourt cave nature reserve is located in the Revermont region on the western side of the southern Jura mountains. It is located in the commune of Hautecourt-Romanèche (Ain department), 19 km east of the town of Bourg-en-Bresse.
Created on September 10, 1980, it was considered France's first underground nature reserve. The cave is home to a terrestrial and aquatic invertebrate fauna characteristic of the Jura, and boasts an interesting geological heritage: fault mirrors, concretions, crystalline sand fillings, varied geomorphologies testifying to paragenetic volume formation. Unlike other "underground" nature reserves, this is the only one classified with the aim of protecting strictly cave-dwelling fauna other than bats. Although the surface projection of the cave is only 1,150 m², the nature reserve is 10.2 hectares in size, in order to preserve the area of influence of rainwater infiltration linked to the cavity. This area is made up of forest habitats and grasslands with a dry tendency and overgrown facies. As such, the nature reserve is part of the Natura 2000 site "Revermont and Gorges de l'Ain".

The cave's human history is just as diverse! Rediscovered by the local abbot in 1849, the cave was developed for tourism until the early 20th century. It has been a listed site since 1909. Alongside the tourist visits, a number of entomologists mentioned the cave in 1894 in the catalog of French Coleoptera for an underground species (known as "troglobia"), Bathyscia (Royerella) villardi. By the end of the 1950s, biospeleologist-researchers from the University of Lyon saw a strong case for protecting the cave and setting up an underground laboratory for their work. By 1962, the Hautecourt cave was no longer open to the public, and the scientific history of the site began. The University of Lyon continued to manage the site until 2001, handing over to an association created specifically by teacher-researchers (l'association de gestion de la grotte de Hautecourt) until the end of 2012. The LPO was appointed manager in 2013, broadening the site's scope to include the conservation of "surface" habitats and species, while taking over several monitoring projects for the underground environment and its associated fauna, including chiropterans.

Depending on financial opportunities, scientific studies are carried out in the cave and in partnership with university researchers and biospeleologists. In 2018, a geomorphological study of the cave (with the EDYTEM/CNRS/Université Savoie Mont-Blanc laboratory) resulted in 3D modeling of the entire cave. As well as being of scientific interest, the 3D model has also been used to create a virtual tour.
Conservation management of the grasslands and meadows, subject to occasional cattle grazing (in the Comté AOC sector), is carried out in conjunction with the Natura 2000 site coordinator.

The cave is closed to the public all year round and cannot be visited. However, you can walk along the path to discover the cave via several information panels. The virtual tour is available on the LPO website (link opposite). A number of activities are available (outside the cave!) to help you get to know the reserve's natural heritage and understand the conservation issues at stake.

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