Ampe, C.

Desmet, K.

Favennec, J.

Matarredona, A.V.

Meur-Férec, C.

Romo, J.J.

Tsoar, H.

Van de Steene, S.

Open Marine Archive

Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
- 34 - 
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature 
restoration in coastal dunes 
Chair: Haim Tsoar1 
Rapporteurs: Siska Van de Steene2, Carole Ampe2, Klaas Desmet2, 
                      Catherine Meur-Férec3, Jean Favennec4, Javier Jiménez Romo5  
                      and Antonio Vizcaino Matarredona6 
1 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Department of Geography and Environmental 
Development, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel 
E-mail: tsoar@bgu.ac.il 
2 Vlaamse Landmaatschappij, Afdeling Brugge, Velodroomstraat 28, 8200 Brugge, Belgium 
E-mail: siska.vandesteene@vlm.be 
3 Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Institut des Mers du Nord, 21 quai de la Citadelle, BP 5528, 
59383 Dunkerque, France 
E-mail: meur@univ-littoral.fr 
4 Office national des Forêts, Mission Littoral, BP 903 –16, rue Georges Mandel, 33061 Bordeaux 
Cedex, France 
E-mail : jean.favennec@onf.fr 
5 European Issues, Oficina Técnica Devesa-Albufera, Ayuntamiento de Valencia,  
Ctra. CV-500 Km 8,5 margen izquierda,  46012 Valencia, Spain 
E-mail: odevesa@valencia.es 
6 Director general, Oficina Técnica Devesa-Albufera, Ayuntamiento de Valencia,  
Ctra. CV-500 Km 8,5 margen izquierda, 46012 Valencia, Spain 
 
Introductory statements (for full-text articles see Proceedings) 
 
1. The Abbey of the Dunes (Koksijde) and Noordduinen: the environmental link 
restored (Van de Steene et al.)  
2. The opening to the French public of ‘natural’ sites of coastal dunes: the choice 
between ‘over-visiting’ and ‘over-protection’ of a shared natural heritage (Meur-
Férec and Favennec)  
3. Ecological aspects of vegetation removal from the coastal sand dunes of Israel (Tsoar 
et al.)  
Major questions/provocative statements 
1. Should we limit the number of people visiting the coastal dunes or should we restrict 
people to certain zones? 
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
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2. How can we preserve high-water drift lines and hence stimulate the development of 
embryonic dunes, without interfering with the recreational function of the beach?  
3. Should we be afraid of shifting sand?  Should we remove the vegetation and turn the 
artificially stabilized coastal dunes into active ones? 
4. How can we harmonize historical/archeological/cultural landscape conserving 
activities in dune areas and estuaries with nature restoration?  
Discussion/answers to questions 
1. Should we limit the number of people visiting the coastal dunes 
or should we restrict people to certain zones? 
 
Sub-questions 
Is trampling a problem? Yes for flora, but what about fauna? What to do about education 
(visitor centers, excursions)? 
Discussion 
It is important to make a distinction between local people and tourists from outside the 
area when we want to change habits. Local people have certain traditions (and traditional 
rights) and will not accept restrictions that external visitors may accept easily. On the 
other hand, it depends on the countries, the importance of the sites and on the extent of 
the sand dunes area. In vast ‘wild’ dunes we can give the visitors some liberty to walk 
around. In urban dunes (such as those of Belgium) we must enforce restriction, fence the 
area and guide the public.   Dune Parks can be used for education (‘ecological gardens’). 
Policy of access is a question of both biodiversity and social matters. Are we going to 
improve biodiversity if we close the area? In the Belgian dune area the Westhoek, there 
was a change in the public habits over the past few decades. The area is no longer freely 
accessible these days, although several paths cross the area. More people are visiting the 
Westhoek today than before. What they see from the path is ‘undisturbed’ nature. 
Therefore, they want to keep staying on the path. 
 
Many think that some perturbation is necessary in order to get dune dynamics.  In each 
region we want a dynamic landscape. More and more ecologists and managers are 
recognizing the value of coastal dunes as a dynamic landform and became aware of the 
important effect of disturbances on the landscape and on the communities in the 
landscape. Some trampling can be useful as a management tool. In other parts (for 
example with climax vegetation) trampling cannot be accepted. 
 
15-20 years ago people didn't appreciate the importance of the sand dunes. Experiencing 
nature is important, also for educational purposes. Public awareness is increased by 
education.  For this and other reasons, an intelligent zoning – in time and space – is 
needed. For instance infrastructure (parking lots, tracks) is compatible with areas where 
strong recreation pressure can be allowed. In various Dutch dune areas (e.g. National 
Park Zuid-Kennemerland, Terschelling,…) there are access points with lots of 
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
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possibilities and quiet zones with restrictions. Tourists can also be influenced by the 
design of the infrastructure. The dunes of Flanders are probably too busy for birds to 
breed.  
Conclusion 
Restricting access for people to certain dune areas, can be a useful tool in balancing 
biodiversity and social needs. People should be limited in certain areas while other 
areas should be closed during the breeding season. This zoning is also different from 
place to place, and can change over time.  
2. How can we preserve high-water drift lines and hence stimulate 
the development of embryonic dunes, without interfering with the 
recreational function of the beach?  
Discussion 
In Germany there are locations with small beaches and fenced dunes. People stay in 
front of the fence. The drift line is within the fenced zone, so the embryonic dune zone is 
protected. In France the main problem is the intensive mechanical cleaning for tourism, 
taking away all organic material and destroying eventual newly formed embryonic 
dunes. Although it is evident that it is necessary to clean beaches from plastic debris etc., 
more and more people realize that the natural beached organic material should not be 
removed always and everywhere. In the Gironde (France) for instance, the financial 
support by the ‘Conseil général’ for the non-selective mechanical beach cleaning (50%) 
is lower than for manual, selective cleaning (80%). As a consequence, cleaning 
operations are changing. Moreover, less ‘clean’ beaches are accepted, as long as it refers 
to organic litter. Also education took place, with a look on the ecology of drift lines. 
Near the cities, the war is lost, but in between the cities there are some possibilities for 
success. Changes can also be seen on a beach that is closed for 2-3 years as it was at 
Stefton, England. At Heist (Belgium) people can now see the difference between the 
recreational beach and the vegetated, fenced beach nature reserve. In Koksijde 
(Belgium), near the sea-site resort, the beach is completely cleaned but there is a section 
with manual cleaning. Small parts are fenced to show what the effect of the restriction of 
trampling is. At the start this caused a lot of trouble, but now it seems that some 
equilibrium was reached. That brings us back to the question of zoning. There should be 
zonation where each zone has a different function. However, there is some danger in 
zonation, especially when the beach is mobile. We have to learn how to plan mobile 
zones. 
Conclusion  
High-water drift lines can be preserved, and hence the development of embryonic dunes, 
by protecting them from non-selective, mechanical beach cleaning. This can be achieved 
by applying a zoning (e.g. by restricting mechanical, non-selective beach cleaning to the 
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
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most visited beaches and the summer period) and by taking into account the various uses 
of the beach.   
3. Should we be afraid of shifting sand?  
 
Sub-question 
Should we turn vegetated stabilized dunes into mobile dunes?  
Discussion 
The response to this question is linked to the way of thinking of a certain period. There is 
also a political response. Local communities respond differently than policy makers. We 
have to find out what is acceptable. Who is afraid? This depends on the specific interests 
people have.  In Belgium some measures had to be taken when shifting sand became a 
real, local problem (e.g. a house near Koksijde started to be covered by sand). In the 
Westhoek dune reserve, the ‘desert’ (an open sandy area) is loved by the public, and it is 
not considered to be dangerous. The opposite is true with tourists being alarmed that the 
Westhoek starts to stabilize. A positive attitude is also possible if there is no direct 
danger. Shifting sand gives some ‘wild’ thing that the people like. In the Netherlands 
there are some small areas with spontaneous blow-out activity, close to villages. The 
inhabitants there are annoyed with the shifting sand, so in that case the sand is being 
stabilized. In another Dutch example, people living 3 km from a mobile dune 
complained about sand on their roofs. It may take many years until people realize the 
value of shifting sand. 
Conclusion 
The way people feel about shifting sand in dune areas depends on many things. Open 
sandy areas with shifting sand are often appreciated as ‘wild’ nature, a positive attitude 
that is linked to the fact that the people concerned do not experience any threat. 
However, when sand reaches nearby houses, the inhabitants often feel annoyed and ask 
for measures to stabilize the shifting sand. The main conclusion seems to be that, where 
possible, shifting sand should be allowed, compensating for areas where local hinder 
requires stabilization of dunes. 
4. Shall we remove the vegetation and turn the artificially stabilized 
coastal dunes into active ones? 
 
Sub-question 
Artificial stabilization is now considered as wrong management. Do we need to repair it? 
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
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Discussion 
There is also a change within the attitude of foresters. They begin to accept that a forest 
is not necessarily the best site in terms of biodiversity, and that stabilizing dunes may 
counteract the conservation of biodiversity. The public should be informed that 
maintaining a range of succession stages in vegetation (from open shifting sands towards 
afforested areas) is the best guarantee to preserve the entire ecosystem. Shifting sand can 
be a tourist attraction and is part of the dune system. But turning everything into open 
sandy areas will lead to a loss of biodiversity (on top of local inconvenience).  
 
We don't know whether the artificially stabilized dunes were artificially destabilized 
before.  Hence, the important question is if the remobilization can be durable. If it is 
durable, then why are the Westhoek dunes in a process of natural stabilization now? The 
Dutch experience teaches us that it can be durable if some kind of maintenance 
managements are accomplished at least for the first 5-10 years. 
 
Many plants need input of fresh sand. Disturbance by tourists can be used to achieve 
this, although it also depends on the scale of the dynamics. Moreover there is a problem 
of connection with vulnerable parts, where you don’t want any trampling. How can you 
zone it? Small scale dynamics can be created by walking people. On the other hand we 
have to be careful with trampling for dynamics. It can also lead to landscape destruction 
(small blowouts).  
Conclusion 
The main question is how to achieve a proper, sustainable management of dune areas in 
which biodiversity is protected and stimulated in an optimal way, tourists are allowed to 
enjoy the landscape – where possible – and management actions can be restricted as 
much as possible.   
5. How can we harmonize historical/archaeological/cultural 
landscape conserving activities in dune areas and estuaries  
with nature restoration?  
Discussion 
In the Netherlands, the so-called ‘Zeedorpen’ dune landscape, is considered as being an 
important cultural heritage and has therefore been restored in some places (e.g. by 
allowing small scale agricultural activity, by restoration of dune slacks,…). In this 
restoration process of special historical landscapes, here and in other places, it is 
advisable to harmonize the historical, archaeological, cultural and ecological values as 
much as possible. Therefore, in case of restoration, we should always make an 
archaeological inventory. Another example of a special historical coastal landscape is the 
Atlantic wall, a series of bunkers and other fortifications from the Second World War 
along Europe’s coastline. Here, one can choose to destroy only those bunkers that pose a 
threat to the public, but conserve e.g. bunkers as a valuable habitat for bats or lizards.  
Workshop 4 – Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes 
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Conclusion 
Particularly in restoration processes of special historical coastal landscapes, it is 
important to harmonize the historical, archaeological, cultural and ecological values as 
much as possible. This can be achieved by carefully planning the restoration process, 
and taking into account all available information from various points of view.   
 
  
 


Workshop 4: Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes

Workshop 4: Tourism/recreation and nature restoration in coastal dunes

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