the inhabitants of the Chausey Islands castigate mass tourism

It’s a little paradise in the crystal clear waters of the English Channel. Located 17 km from Granville (Manche), the Chausey archipelago (Manche) comprises around fifty small islets at high tide. A postcard landscape, but whose balance is fragile. Jean-Michel Thévenin is one of the few to live here, summer and winter alike. Viscerally attached to his island, he has been the son of a fisherman for five generations. On Chausey, there are no cars. There are trails, but no roads. A few houses are there, as well as some land that has remained wild.

But between July 15 and August 15, a crowd of tourists landed on the archipelago. Up to 2,000 visitors arrive daily on this tiny pebble barely two kilometers long. “It becomes unreasonable. The island is small, so it is subject to frequentation that goes beyond its geography. It’s really the great transhumance of August“, describes Jean-Michel Thévenin.

And when there are too many people, the inhabitants of Chausey prefer to leave the island. In summer, only the coastal guards still watch over Chausey. Several times a day, they circle the trails and check for protected species, some of which can’t stand being walked on. The island is also a sanctuary for seabirds. So, to preserve Chausey’s balance, many are now demanding quotas so that there are fewer tourists.