• The Frioul archipelago is 5 km off the beaches of Marseille.

    Every year, 400.00 visitors set foot there.

  • For a better reception of the public, information panels on the fauna, flora and geology of the Frioul islands have been installed.

  • More broadly, the city of Marseille continues to develop its policy geared towards the coast, with the objective of being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The scene repeats itself tirelessly on the Frioul archipelago, 5 km off the coast of Marseille.

Every morning, and throughout the day, the shuttles disembark some of the 400,000 tourists who visit this listed site within the Calanques National Natural Park.

But Frioul has the particularity of being both an inhabited district of Marseille (about 150 permanent inhabitants), an area of ​​the national park, and a tourist area with bars, restaurants and nautical activities.

"We must seek a balance between protecting nature and welcoming the public", introduces Didier Réault, the president of the Calanques National Park.

A first step towards this was taken at the start of the season with the introduction of a quota, and a system of prior reservation, to access the Calanque de Sugiton.

"For years, an "overtourist" life has developed unbridled, and it took time to realize it," admits Didier Réault, also vice-president of the metropolis in charge of the sea. the problem of returns from Friuli where the long queue at the end of the afternoon very often spoils the pleasure of a peaceful day.

“For the 2023 season, a return booking system will have to be put in place,” he says.

It is obvious that we must act on this matter.

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55 agents survey the park

The challenge of better managing the flow of tourists, who are ever more numerous in Marseille, and in particular those who intend to take advantage of the marvelous landscapes of the seaside, is therefore on the agenda of the public authorities.

"This overcrowding is mainly linked to the seaside use of these spaces", says Hervé Menchon, EELV deputy at the town hall in charge of the coast.

“This is why we are also betting on redeveloping urban seaside areas, and that will start with the Plage des Catalans.

This will follow by the beaches of Corbières, north of the city, then by those of Borély, ”continued the ecological elected official.



At the same time, information panels on the fauna, flora and geology of the Frioul islands have been installed.

"We also need to disseminate knowledge, because we only protect what we know", stated Didier Réault on the occasion of the inauguration of these panels and of a public reception area on Frioul.

In addition to these educational materials, human resources have also been deployed.

Fifty-five agents (eco-guards, volunteers, forest guards, environmental inspectors and a few scouts from France) survey the park.

Frioul is also aiming for labeling on the management of its resources and its socio-economic and cultural development, recalled Sophie Camard, the mayor of the 1st and 7th arrondissements of Marseille, on which the archipelago depends.

All of these actions are part of a more distant ambition, announced by Benoît Payan last September on the occasion of the World Conservation Congress, organized in 2021 in Marseille: that of classifying the harbor of Marseille as a world heritage Unesco.

To achieve this, the city has recently recruited a size in the field, in the person of Brigitte Pourcelle, craftsman of the classification of Bordeaux at Unesco.

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