In the creeks of Marseille, locals and tourists seduced by the gauge established to limit access

Naïs is employed for the season as a regional forest guard. Since June, it has been welcoming visitors to Calanque de Sugiton, a steep cove near Marseille. “Do you know why at the moment it is necessary to reserve to access Sugiton?”she asks a passerby. “It’s erosion, all that” he replies correctly.

Indeed, erosion is one of Sugiton’s problems. Because despite its small 40 meters wide, up to 3,000 people could come and trample the ground every day before the establishment of the gauge, set up by the Calanques National Park for the creeks of Sugiton and Fallen Stones. Access is now limited to 400 visitors per day, with reservations required. This measure is part of a global movement to protect natural areas. Similar practices have been implemented in Porquerolles (Var) and on the Lavezzi islands in Corsica.

“We have locals who have been there for decades who tell us: ‘It’s incredible, we have the impression of going back 20, 30 years back!’

Naïs, regional forest warden

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Nais continues: “In recent years, there have been people everywhere and it hasn’t even become more pleasant to come. This system makes it possible both to protect the creek which is in the process of collapsing and to allow people who descend there to spend a good time.”

As for the environment, it is still a bit early to take stock after only a few weeks of experimentation. The roots of the pines are still bare on the paths, the most borrowed rocks are still very eroded, but one thing is certain, the creek is cleaner than before.

Irou is from Taiwan, after an hour of descent on the steep path, she is delighted to be able to swim in the turquoise water, in a protected environment. “It’s not very hard to book, I did it two or three days ago, it was quite easy. It’s a good measure for everyone, like that, everyone has the right to enjoy nature”she believes.

“We won’t be able to have this nature for very long if we don’t take care of it, so yes I really like this idea of ​​limiting the public.”

Irou, tourist

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However, for Nicolas Chardin, acting director of the Calanques National Park, it is not a question of generalizing this kind of restriction to all natural sites either. “It’s something that can serve as inspiration for other sites but in configurations that would be more or less equivalent. What is certain is that the question of hyper frequentation arises for almost all protected natural areas. We must not allow the public to come to the detriment of the preservation of the environments which are generally the factor of attractiveness of these sites.”

Still, in order to allow nature to regenerate, it seems very likely that the measure will be maintained next year in Sugiton.