Title :

Coastal scenic assessment in northern France: An attempt to quantify scenic beauty and analyse the role played by the Conservatoire du littoral

Author(s) :

Williams, Allan [Auteur]
University of Wales Trinity Saint David [UWTSD]
Mooser, Alexis [Auteur]
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope” = University of Naples [PARTHENOPE]
Anfuso, Giorgio [Auteur]
Universidad de Cádiz = University of Cádiz [UCA]
Herbert, Vincent [Auteur]
Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale [ULCO]
Territoires, Villes, Environnement & Société - ULR 4477 [TVES]
Aucelli, Pietro P.C. [Auteur]

Journal title :

Ocean and Coastal Management

Pages :

106446

Publisher :

Elsevier

Publication date :

2023-04

ISSN :

0964-5691

Keyword(s) :

Côte d’Opale
Côte picarde
Côte d’Albâtre

English keyword(s) :

Beach
Human pressure
Fuzzy logic

HAL domain(s) :

Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Géographie

English abstract : [en]

“Buy to protect”: this may be the Conservatoire du Littoral philosophy. Since 1975, this unique public French institution endeavours to acquire vulnerable and threatened coastal areas of great natural relevance to ensure ...
Show more >“Buy to protect”: this may be the Conservatoire du Littoral philosophy. Since 1975, this unique public French institution endeavours to acquire vulnerable and threatened coastal areas of great natural relevance to ensure their permanent and sound management/protection by establishing conventions with local authorities. This paper is focused on (i) the research of remarkable attractive natural sites not (or only slightly) affected by human intrusions, (ii) the analysis of the Conservatoire policies related to landscape issues and (iii) the proposal of judicious measures to assess/maintain/enhance/monitor landscape quality. For such proposals, the Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES) method was in situ applied along the northern French coast, from Belgium to the Seine estuary. This area, shaped in a macrotidal environment, was chosen as it exhibits a wide variety of scenery composed of majestic dunes complexes, estuaries, bays and impressive cliff formations, alongside a strong cultural heritage. It also includes some world-renowned sites such as Les Deux Caps (Gris-Nez and Blanc-Nez), the Somme Bay and the cliffs of Étretat. CSES is a strong accurate indicator of scenic quality based on 26 physical and human parameters, and fuzzy-logic mathematics to overcome subjectivity and quantify uncertainties. As a result, an Evaluation Index (D) is obtained, enabling to classify sites into five distinct classes, from Class I (outstanding quality) to Class V (very poor quality). In this paper, 16 sectors respectively located along the Côte d’Opale (8), Côte Picarde (4) and Côte d’Albâtre (4) were selected after a long process of field testing. Seven were included in Class I, five in Class II and four in Class III. Finally, suggestions were made to complete the remarkable labour done by the Conservatoire.Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Popular science :

Non

Collections :

• Territoires, Villes, Environnement & Société (TVES) - ULR 4477

Source :

Harvested from HAL