A management plan for prestigious sites in Corsica is being put in place, overcrowding is a problem in Bavella, on Restonica but also in the extreme south of the island. The Office of the Environment of Corsica is now applying measures on the Lavezzi, a management plan desired by the Assembly of Corsica, a consultation has taken place in recent months. It is a question of limiting access to visitors on land, but the control of flows at sea is also topical. Jean Michel Culioli is head of the protected areas department for the OEC.
A strong resumption of visits after the Covid
The Lavezzi, we are here in a nature reserve after two years of Covid, tourist numbers were very high at the end of last season. This issue has already been raised in successive management plans for the management of the reserve. The Assembly of Corsica asked us to set up an experimental plan last year in October and this is what we did with the advisory committee of the reserve. We set up a working group to define the notion of quota, ie arriving on a small island of 69 hectares with 9000 square meters of beach and three kilometers of paths which are only authorized for landing. It’s trying to find the right balance between the needs of preserving biodiversity, and then maintaining a certain form of activity.
– Marius Roman
Quotas starting this summer
“Last December, we decided to no longer exceed a maximum number of 2000 people per day present on the island, in recent years we have exceeded 3500 people. We are talking about a maximum quota per day and then we are also talking about an annual quota. We have to go back to the notions of 2026/2030 with an annual attendance of 150,000 people, which we had roughly in the 2010s. So today it is important to put in place this plan which is a channel of the public, the establishment of information points and very strong regulations. That is to say that as soon as we overtake we will leave the paths, we will be in violation. We also proceed to _the closure of ten quiet zones on the Lavezzi, these zones are currently being closed. Zones of tranquility where no one can go”_.