Argelès-sur-Mer is a municipality in the Pyrénées-Orientales with approximately 10,000 inhabitants. It constitutes the southern part of the sandy coast of Roussillon. Like Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, it has a bicephalous configuration: a historic core located inland, complemented by a “seaside resort” area that extends along the coast.
The economy of the municipality is mainly based on summer coastal tourism, with numerous summer visitors staying mainly in the 52 campsites in the territory. The sandy coastline of the municipality extends over about 6 kilometres. It is interrupted to the south by the harbour, the only artificial structure present in this section, and to the north by the mouth of the Tec river.
The southern part of the coastline (3.5 kilometres) is heavily urbanised: the dune system is poorly developed and a seafront promenade borders directly onto the urban development. On the contrary, the northern part retains a more natural character, with a better preserved dune ridge and the presence of a nature reserve.
The DUAL project area is located at the northern end of the urbanised sector. Since the 1980s it has shown a slight advance of the coastline (of about twenty metres), as well as the absence of dune formation in the upper part of the beach, despite the presence of pioneer vegetation in spring. The lack of management of the flow of visitors towards the beach limits plant colonisation and prevents the formation of an embryonic dune.
Argelès is committed to nature to protect the beach and reduce the risk of erosion and flooding, especially in the most urbanised area of its coastline. Results will be evaluated through monitoring and fieldwork
Actions
The actions carried out in the municipality of Argelès-sur-Mer are driven by the Community of Municipalities of the Albères, the Vermilion Coast and the Illibéris (CCACVI), the body responsible for GEMAPI (Management of Aquatic Environments and Flood Protection), and by the Marine Park of the Gulf of Lion under a cooperation contract (PNMGL). The project has the support of the PNMGL at 65% and the CCACVI at 35%, for an approximate amount of €450,000.
The action is part of the national biodiversity strategy promoted by PNMGL (OFB), as well as the Integrated Coastal Management Strategy led by CCACVI, whose objective is to use nature-based solutions to adapt to coastal retreat.
The main action consists in reintroducing a dune in urban space in the northern sector of Argelès-sur-Mer (area between the Casino d’Argelès-sur-Mer and the Le Roussillonnais campsite). This decision is a consequence of the implementation, since 2023, of a reasoned plan for the maintenance of the municipality’s beaches, which has allowed the recovery of dune vegetation in the upper part of the beach.
The planned solution consists, through the installation of protection elements (enclosures such as casier or ganivelles), in protecting the dune vegetation in the process of recovery in the upper part of the beach. Initial inventories have confirmed the presence of protected species on site (such as the sea couch grass). These devices will allow access to be channelled, the trampling of dune vegetation to be limited and thus the natural formation of the dune to be favoured through the action of the wind and the capture of sand by plant species. No active revegetation of the site is planned, in line with the guidelines of the national biodiversity strategy.
The project will be evaluated through monitoring on the ground and with drone to verify the recovery of vegetation cover once the vegetation is protected. A vegetation transect will be installed, which will be integrated into the monitoring carried out by the Sandy Coast Observatory (OBSCAT).
To promote social acceptance of the project, a landscape projection work will be carried out over different time horizons, with the aim of allowing users to understand how this action will evolve over time and thus raise awareness of the risk of erosion and flooding in the municipality.
The project will be the subject of an agreement with state services based on the schedule of the beach concessions plan, with the aim of re-examining in 2033 the effectiveness of the device, as well as the coexistence of concessions close to the urban dune.
