HEADING FOR… PORT-CROS

Jewel of Nature? Paradise? Haven of peace? Wonders of the underwater world? Nature at its origins ? You chose the best description... We are talking about the National Reserve of Port-Cros where the environment is respected. Port-Cros is an island of many faces.

First of all you must know that the National Reserve of Port-Cros is the first marine reserve to have been created in Europe (in 1963) an initiative that has only just started to propagate in the Iroise Sea for exemple. The reserve consists of 675 hectares of land and 1800 hectares of sea and the only visitors allowed are Nature herself and "eco-citizens".

But there are a few restraints if one wants to protect the environment. For example to let people walk around without causing too much damage the site has to be put under certain restrictions. The marine regulation stipulates that anchoring is forbidden at the north of the island between the "pointe du Moulin" and the "pointe de la Galère" as on a part of the "Bagaud" and south and east of the "Gabinière". Only "clean" anchoring (without rejection of sewage) is authorized in the bay of Port-Cros. Although these measures may seem strict they are necessary to protect the natural environment.

Other activities are concerned by the regulation. Fishing is forbidden within 50 m from the coast in the nothern and western zone of Port-Cros. This interdiction goes up to 600 m in the eastern and southern zones of the island. As for fishing on foot or underwater fishing, both are completely forbidden in the reserve. Which means you are only allowed to watch which is not bad... Concerning underwater observation diving, the Reserve has been studying a project with diving schools on how to encourage a respectful behaviour towards the underwater world and how to organize the reception and visits of the underwater sites so that people can enjoy them.

The wonders of the island of Port-Cros…

Its so beautiful you would think you were relishing it. You must impregnate yourself with the island, live it, smell it. Come and replenish yourself...

The land ….

30 km of paths have been made just for you. You will discover the different stages of development of the flora, from the low maquis (Cistus of Montpellier and arborescent heather) to the oak tree groves (green oak forest). The "Path of Plants" will bring you to observe the succession of different plants with its 17 stations with explanatory signs.

You must not miss certain species... The beard of Jupiter, king of the plants of the island, is a species that is endemic to the western Mediterranean and its extension is limited by the growth of the green oak woods and the frequenting of the coastal paths. But there are also protected species such as the "cat grass" which is characterized by a very strong smell "which exerts such an attraction on cats that they destroy it but rolling on it in a sort of rapture" (Jahandiez, 1929).

That cannot be made up. Other amazing natural phenomenons show the adaptation of plants to the environment. For example the halophyte plants (who like and need salt) and the semi-halophyte plants (who can only stand a low concentration of salt but are resistant) form belts of vegetation in between the coast and the interior and therefore allow the plants who are "allergic" to these conditions to develop further inland.

The site is also very rich in certain species who are harder to observe : the Sardinian "discoglosse" (little paleoendemic frog), the ashen puffin (a water bird very rare in the western Mediterranean and who is followed scientifically on the island), the European sparrowhawk (bird of prey in progession since 1972) the horned owl (in regression because of the lack of big insects that it eats), Hermann's tortoise (a threatened species) and many more...

The sea …

If you like the sea here there is alot to see. If you go to the north of the island you will come to the beach of "La Palud" where the famous underwater path begins.

Created exclusively to develop the discovery of the underwater world this path is marked by 7 buoys that correspond to different ecosystems (seaweed beds (posidonia), dark break, enlightend rocks, emerged rocks, fallen rocks and pebbles, hole made by a bomb of the second world war). Situated between the rock of the Rascasse and the coast, no more than 10 meters deep and a relatively small area : an ideal course for young and old, wether athletic or not. You can see how well Nature makes things as you go through the different systems : the organisms are adapted to the different conditions such as the intensity of the light, the nature of the substrate (rocks, seaweed, posidonia, ect...) and the intensity of the waves (calm or choppy).

It is difficult not to be filled with admiration in front of the biological diversity, it is a real aquarium and you are inside it ! You will not know in which direction to look what with the sea anemones (with 200 tentacles), the "sea slugs" with their brilliant colours, the "spirographs", the cuttlefish, the famous octopuss, the "girelle", the "serran"(some are hermaphrodites believe it or not!), the "sar", the "rascasse", ...

The "dentis" and the "corbs" will follow you on your tour whereas usually you can't see them if you don't dive down to 30 meters. It's incredible! As for the grouper that's for later on and a little deeper. You will come out of the water with all these pictures in your head.

And maybe you will think it difficult to imagine the future without this paradise, about your children...and you will say to yourself : everything must be done to save this little piece of nature.