Co-management of Grand Rouveau island

Ecological restoration

Since 2012, the town of Six-Fours les Plages, teams from PIM, the Conservatoire du Littoral and the company AGIR Ecologique have been working on a programme to restore the island’s overall ecological status. The aim is first and foremost to achieve a high degree of naturalness on the island and biodiversity that is less impacted by human use. The programme also provides an opportunity to test replicable, low-cost restoration techniques that are suited to Mediterranean ecosystems.

Ecological restoration began in 2012 with campaigns to remove Witches’ Claw (Carpobrotus sp.), which then covered more than 70% of the island’s surface. In 2019, an operation to eradicate the Black Rat (Rattus rattus) was undertaken, which is now proving to be a success: Grand Rouveau has become the first “pest-free” island in the Mediterranean!

Phares et Balises, the owners of the lighthouse and the calade on Grand Rouveau Island (a listed site since 2012), have undertaken to repair the northern part of the calade on Grand Rouveau Island. Initiative PIM, as co-manager of the island, has been asked to limit the impact of this work on a nationally protected species, the Ail petit Moly (Allium chamaemoly), present on Grand Rouveau. In collaboration with Agir Ecologique, a plant translocation operation was carried out, with regular monitoring to ensure that the plants are in good health.

Naturalist monitoring

In order to assess the effectiveness of the management and the impact of the restoration work, various naturalist monitoring programmes are being undertaken on the Grand Rouveau, to observe changes in the ecosystem over the long term. Annual monitoring of the vegetation, the reproduction of the Yellow-legged Gull and the population of the Leaf-toed gecko (a small gecko endemic to the Mediterranean islands) is carried out by the management team with the support of numerous experts and scientists who are members of the PIM network.

Regional Marine Guard

Since 2023, the Regional Marine Guard scheme set up by the Southern Region has strengthened the permanent PIM Initiative team by recruiting two ecoguards over the summer period. During the peak tourist season, these seasonal workers are responsible for raising awareness among yachtsmen (sailing boats, rigid and semi-rigid boats, boats without a licence, etc.) of the issues surrounding marine biodiversity, and in particular Posidonia seagrass beds. Most of the sea patrols are carried out in collaboration with the Atelier Bleu CPIE Côte Provençale, an organisation with expertise in engaging communication and raising awareness of ecological issues.

Workcamps

As part of the partnership between PIM and Septentrion Environnement/CFPPA Marseille since 2022, students from the BTS “Gestion et Protection de la Nature” and the Bachelor “Gestion et Protection des Milieux Marins et Littoraux” from Campus Nature Provence, regularly spend time on the island as part of work-schools, supervised and led by representatives from the 3 organisations. These workcamps give them the opportunity to learn scientific techniques for monitoring nature in the field, both at sea and on land, while providing invaluable support to the Initiative PIM team in carrying out the annual monitoring of nature on the island of Grand Rouveau!