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ABSTRACT
Western Europe's de-polderisation policy was launched in the 1980s and has since spread along the coasts, especially in the UK, where it is governed by coastal defence objectives through "managed realignment" and environmental objectives that are predominant elsewhere. Various means of de-polderisation exist: through tidal gates, breaches, or sea dike removal. Although physical studies on de-polderisation should be continued, it is equally important to examine the social context, favouring or not, of marsh restoration because acceptance of any de-polderisation scheme largely depends on public opinion. The results of five opinion surveys carried out in France and the UK were thus compared and revealed diverging opinions or unexpected indifference toward de-polderisation. A profile of those opposed shows that they are relatively old and regularly frequent the de-polderised sites or live near them. "Negative" reactions, however, are also linked to a lack of knowledge about the marsh environment and of the effects of de-polderisation. Other explanations surface as well: that today coastal environments are quite simply viewed as "landscape," the degree of human intervention in the implemented schemes, the physical and eustatic context, and the degree to which people are informed. Public knowledge could be improved and mentalities changed through better communication methods, especially on a local level. Furthermore, the creation of a "variables bank" capable of explaining public attitudes and perceptions more systematically would also improve "social management" of the de-polderisation policy.
ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Coastal wetlands, marsh restoration, managed realignment, questionnaire, Western Europe.
INTRODUCTION
After 10 centuries of land reclamation on the sea, Western Europe prudently launched its de-polderisation policy during the 1980s (BARON-YELLES and GOELDNER-GIANELLA, 2001). Deliberate restoration of land to the sea has from that time on had a growing effect, especially in the UK, which today harbours as many de-polderisation projects, both finished and underway, along its own coasts as does all of Continental Europe combined. With 30-40 schemes on the Britannic and European coasts (Figure 1), the total combined surface area is no more than a few dozen square kilometres (i.e., less than 1% of the 15,000 km2 of tidal polders in all of Europe), although this study cannot in itself be considered exhaustive. Furthermore, anticipated projects are also more numerous in Britain than on the continent (Figure 1)....