Coastal protection in France

This edition is an update of Violaine CHENAT's article of the same title, published in 2005.

France's long coastline gives it access to the Mediterranean and southern countries, as well as to northern Europe and the Atlantic. France's overseas departments are spread across almost every sea in the world, making France the world's second largest maritime area. This privilege must not only be assessed in terms of economic, strategic and political power, it also translates into a wealth of heritage, both ecological and scenic, which contributes greatly to the quality of life of the French people and to France's image abroad.

As the line of contact between land and sea, and the meeting point of fresh and salt water, the shoreline, like all interfaces, is a place of great biological diversity, bringing together an extreme variety of natural environments: salt marshes, mudflats, wetlands and more.

The diversity of landforms, climates and vegetation has given rise to a wide variety of landscapes, some of which are world-renowned. These include the Pointe du Raz, the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, the cliffs of Etretat, the Atlantic salt marshes, the creeks of Marseille and Cassis, the Gulf of Porto and the lagoon of Mayotte.

While France's coastline is particularly rich, it is also under threat, and the French government has a major responsibility to ensure that it can be passed on to future generations in good condition.

What's new is that most economic players and local councillors are convinced that the protection of natural seaside areas is an essential asset for the sustainable economic development of coastal regions. A protected natural site is a tourist "infrastructure", in the same way as hotel facilities or road infrastructure.

Natural spaces are also living spaces and spaces of freedom.