Calanques Propres
From the Côte Bleue to La Ciotat, over 60 organizations from all horizons are joining forces
for a major citizen clean-up of Mediterranean coastline, on land and at sea !
Calanques Propres,
20 years already !
Over the years, with the help of a growing number of participating organizations, Calanques Propres has provided ever more information on the waste collected.
Participating organizations can register on the platform and enter their collection results. This centralization of data provides both a more global and a more precise view of pollution, and geostatistical analysis is the basis for reduction recommendations.
The information acquired over the years is now helping to define a program to tackle littering in partnership with the Parc national des Calanques.
In 2023, Calanques Propres it's :
1230
Participants involved
+5,3
Tons of waste collected
55915
Cigarette butts collected
The main objectives of
Calanques Propres
Join forces to reduce the amount of litter and plastic waste that ends up in the sea.
Sound the alarm raised by participants concerned about the extent of the invasion of our fragile marine ecosystems by litter.
Clean up the Calanques' land and sea coastlines, and certain stretches of waterway, from the widespread litter that pollutes them.
Make public authorities and the general public aware of the scale of the problem of litter outside collection systems.
You would like to take part in
Calanques Propres ?
The reference documents
Background to the operation :
In 1993, the Union Calanques Littoral and Mountain Wilderness initiated the first citizen clean-up operation under the name Calanques Propres, which has been taken up by the Mairie d'Ensuès-la-Redonne since 2002 on the occasion of their operations.
In 2003, under the initiative of the Marseille Horizon association, the idea of federating coastal organizations already involved in litter-picking activities for many years under the name of Calanques Propres was born.
Headed by Isabelle Poitou, a biologist with a PhD in town and country planning, and a specialist in diffuse and marine litter, the MerTerre association contributes its expertise in quantitative and qualitative waste characterization and analysis methods. Since 2005, MerTerre has joined the operation, offering participants the opportunity to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the waste they collect.
In 2008, the coordination of Calanques Propres was transferred to MerTerre and, with the support of its institutional and private partners, the operation gradually extended from the Côte Bleue to La Ciotat and inland (Huveaune and Aygalades), covering more than 39 areas.
Thanks to this experience, MerTerre relied on the structures participating in Calanques Propres to initiate a participatory science program, which in 2019 led to the creation of the ReMed Zero Plastic platform supported by the South Region, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and in partnership with the National Museum of Natural History.
