There is a taste of summer vacation this weekend in the creeks of Marseille. Not that they are full of people, it’s even quite the opposite in reality, since tomorrow, to go down in two of its creeks, the creeks of Saint-Sugiton and Pierres Tombées, you will have to have booked in advance. , as will be the case from July 10 to August 21. This Sunday is a test day: 400 people maximum per day in the creeks to preserve the environment. Sociologist Jean Viard puts this decision into perspective.
franceinfo: How did we get here? Why are such solutions necessary today?
John Viard: Marseille has 32 kilometers of shoreline and all the beautiful calanques between Marseille and Cassis are in the territory of Marseille, inside a national park which is the only national park inside a city. Marseille is becoming a major tourist destination and the creeks are saturated. And it has to be managed ecologically, not to do anything. When there are too many people, tourists go up the slopes, sit on the plants, damage the small trees, even though it is a very fragile micro-environment.
Isn’t it a bit of a shame to have to come to this?
You have to see a positive thing there! It goes through a reservation, digital, and if it doesn’t, it will go through money one day. Inevitably, it will then be a question of raising the entrance prices, charging an entrance to a creek, asking 25 euros, many people will no longer go, at a time when it is a question of making nature accessible everyone, etc. However in this configuration, with the reservations, the artificial intelligence will make it possible to know where the people will be, and to regulate better.
Do you see this as an illustration of a paradigm shift?
Of course, we lose a bit of the poetry of the place. But the organization of the tourist territory is a big question and we have been working on it for a very long time. People want to see nature and to walk. But with the number of tourists pouring in, some planning is required. I think digital is a major and easy tool to address these issues. I think it’s a mode of regulation that can help protect from tourism and protect from ecological destruction.