Tour of the Etang de Thau: the idea of ​​a “Coastal Path” is gaining ground

Les pourtours de l’étang offrent de magnifiques paysages au fil des saisons. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

The SMBT is working with a design office to create a 70 km walking loop around the pond.

The project is only in its early stages. So much so that it doesn’t yet have a name. But it is on the table on SMBT (Syndicat Mixte du Bassin de Thau), and even rather at the top of the pile. The idea of ​​a large “Coastal Path”, on the edge of the Thau lagoon, has never been so close to becoming a reality. The project is ambitious: to take walkers continuously over approximately 70 km, showing them the most beautiful things the Etang de Thau has to promote. Its landscapes, its nature, its biodiversity, its culture, its heritage… In short, discover its many riches, hiking shoes on your feet and a bag on your back.

Develop tourism while preserving biodiversity

During 2023, the SMBT was commissioned to implement this coastal path. "We are dealing with issues such as “Sentier des Douaniers& rdquo;, in Brittany, presents Alexandre Pennaneac’h, innovation project manager at SMBT, with reference to the GR34, exclusively coastal, which borders all of the Breton coasts on more than 2,000 km. The idea is to offer a walking tour of the Thau lagoon. We have an atypical path. The State, which is at the initiative within the framework of the call for projects "France vue sur mer", has only given its approval for one The only route on the Hérault with a view to prizes is this one. A design office is currently working on clearing the route, which is already 60% complete."

In this story, the SMBT does not start completely from scratch. Between pedestrian paths and marked hiking trails, the road is more or less traced and walkers are already present on the side. "We will have to intensify the marking, continues the project manager. We are on very light adjustments. There remains 40% to build, with developments to be made, impossibilities (private properties, industrial risks, agricultural passages, natural zone, protected species, fragile land…), and intermittent zones (seasonal nesting, in particular). There will be difficult choices, which is why we call on a design office. The objective is to have an extremely well-constructed report."

The ambition of a shared pond

Next July, the SMBT aims to have a complete, justified and argued file on the subject of the future marking of the trail.

Potential difficult to assess

"Great, we're going for the weekend to tour the Etang de Thau." This is the idea, with this “Coastal Path”, which could be triggered by walkers from all walks of life eager for discovery. In its reflection, the SMBT does not yet fully measure the tourist impact that the creation of this tour of the pond would have. "The ambition is to tell a story, to serialize the consumption of the journey, that people return home with anecdotes and stories, “I’ai seen this, that, the species, the oyster beds, the pond, the heritage…”" The SMBT, however, sets itself the prerequisite of ;question the relevance of its action, by measuring the potential destruction of the environment and identifying risk areas, even if it means creating detours.

The challenge is twofold, and even paradoxical, for the SMBT: both contributing to the attractiveness of the territory, while attracting walkers, to an area to be protected for its biodiversity and its landscapes. "We cover a protected area (protected marine era, Natura 2000) and we create a hiking trail. We want to contribute to territorial attractiveness, but not at any price, assures Stéphane Roumeau, director of the SMBT. This is why this file is being handled by biodiversity experts. And in there, there is also the voice of the inhabitant. It is collected by the design office."

The SMBT thus defends the idea of ​​a “shared pond”, having in mind the development of a route "at stake" : prevention, preservation of the environment, awareness of biodiversity, memory and transmission, would play key roles . The first strides are not expected before 2025…

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