Coastline management
The Somme Estuary, the region with…
undefined shorelines
occupation of the area between land and sea
differently.
If in the next few years, inhabited areas
lying below the average sea level, such as Mers-les-Bains and
Cayeux-sur-Mer, need a defence system which pegs down the
coastline, we must consider alternative solutions with great
transparency and undertake the broadest possible consultation.
Where retreating is predictable, these
considerations must be implemented only if we are convinced
that they are likely to present advantages for present and
future generations.
Today’s controversies regarding the
development processes to adopt for cliff or dune coastlines are
futile. Time is against us, money is scarce and we are
responsible for the future.
Public debate must begin. Positive
forward-looking solutions exist. In the next few months, we
will concentrate on stating clearly our position regarding a
genuine positively driven integrated management policy for the
coastal areas.
With this evocative title of his book
“Les Rives Incertaines” (undefined shorelines),
Robert Mallet described perfectly the influence of our
region’s coastline.
This romanticised
approach is nevertheless a complex reality
for the inhabitants of this region, who, for centuries, have
tried to conquer land from the sea or battled relentlessly to
prevent the shoreline from gaining ground. For centuries, the
sea has often violently challenged the occupation of this space
by mankind.
The erosion of cliffs, the subsidence of
pebble strips, the silting up of the Somme Estuary, the moving
inland of the dunes, are all challenging problems which invite
us to think of a different strategy for the management of the
coastline.
Today we are seeing how difficult it is to
fight systematically against natural evolution. In addition,
the effects of global warming are forcing us to see the
