Reservations for entry to two coves in Marseille are open this Thursday, June 23, on the website of the Calanques National Park. Objective ? Limit the presence of these vulnerable Mediterranean natural areas to 400 people per day this summer. Light on this unprecedented decision in France.
“The Sugiton and Fallen Stones creek is the victim of a very pronounced phenomenon of soil erosion due to overpopulation. This phenomenon threatens the landscapes we love so much and biodiversity”lists the Calanques National Park on its website.
In order to “protect the calanque”, access to the small beaches of Sugiton and Fallen Stones and their immediate surroundings will therefore be limited to 400 visitors per day, compared to 2500 usually in the heart of summer, on Sunday 26 June and 3 July , then every day from July 10 to August 21.
Reservations, free and limited to five people per file, can be made from three days before the desired date and until 18:00 the day before, on the website or application of the Calanques National Park. Children under three do not require reservations. They are impossible on site and on the same day.
More than 300 places had already been reserved on Thursday afternoon, the park said with: “a big crowd the first half hour of the opening of the reservations”† “It would be ideal if there are still a few places available for registrations the day before”said a spokesman for the park.
Since mid-May, the Park has been carrying out an extensive communication campaign, via posters but also on social networks, to inform the public about these new booking methods, a first in a French national park.
Agents will be present all summer along the access path to the calanque, which winds through the undergrowth, to inform visitors of the need for a visiting permit before reaching the QR code checkpoints.
The reservation system, tested for the first time this summer by the Calanques National Park, may change. “We want to believe that a large part of the public is sensitive to the fact that we want to protect the environment”†
Objective ? “Limit the erosion of the pine forest, protect the soil and preserve the capacity to renew this landscape” mythical, he added. And so avoid “an irreversible process”while “renaturation can take several centuries”†
When checked in the subject area, people who do not have a ticket will be fined 68 euros.
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(AFP)