Amid uncertainties surrounding the evolution of Covid-19 and border restrictions, many French people are choosing to explore their own country instead of heading abroad for summer holidays. The implications are not all positive.
After a peak 2020 summer season for nature tourism, this year is shaping up to be a busy one. Bookings are up 20 percent according to figures from the G2A consultancy for the National Association of Mountain Resort Mayors (ANMSM).
"While we welcome this reunion between the French and their nature, we must now call on them to be extremely vigilant," France's national and regional parks warned in a collective letter last month.
"Our natural areas are fragile."
In 2020, the Hautes-Alpes in south-east France welcomed the biggest ever number of summer tourists.
The Ecrins park saw a jump in visitor numlbers, as did the region around Gavarnie, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where there were 30 percent more tourists than in 2019.
"The main change is the new public who come from nearby urban areas and who are not all familiar with the mountains," said Pierrick Navizet, of the Ecrins park.
'Explosion of bad manners'
At Lake Lauvitel, a grandiose and easily accessible natural site in Isère, in the south-east, up to 1,000 people hiked on weekends in August last year. The park rangers noted an "explosion of bad behaviour".
They recorded a doubling in the number of offences compared to 2019: dumping of waste, wildfires, theft of equipment, broken chalets and more.
"We were a bit worn out," after last summer, admits Pierre-Henri Peyret, the head of the sector, adding "but it's up to us to adapt".
Presenting a management plan for the new season, he said the priority was better communication to inform the public about good practices, such as wearing soilid shoes, not approaching herd protection dogs, and not lighting fires.
There are two ways of getting the message across. The first is Instagram, where many inexperienced hikers come up with their next idea for an outing, and the second is in the parks themselves, where more rangers will be present to "raise awareness of the regulations" but also to organise activities, such as wildlife identification.
Shuttles, not cars
In the Vercors, a massif close to the cities of Lyon and Grenoble, the protected site of La Molière saw 294 visitors jostle for 60 parking spaces on one day last year.
"When you've spent half an hour parking, arguing with another guy over a space, you're no longer in the nature preserve, you're in mass consumption," laments Quentin Chabanne, project manager at the Vercors Regional Nature Park.
The park is now considering banning cars from the site and replacing them with a shuttle service.
(With AFP)
