The candidacy step by step
Officially launched in 2016, the Cordouan candidacy is the result of joint work with all the actors of the territory in a perennial, respectful and ambitious vision of the monument and its environment.
The steps
The application is proposed by the State and, at the local level, by SMIDDEST with the Prefecture of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Direction interrégionale de la Mer-sud Atlantique, the Department of Charente-Maritime, the Department of Gironde, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, and the association of the Cordouan lighthouse and Grave.
It is a long term work which requires the successive validation of several stages.
Step 1: Demonstration of the Outstanding Universal Value
This stage is the key point of any candidacy, and it allowed us to justify the exceptional universal value of the Cordouan lighthouse.
Two criteria were retained:
- The lighthouse is a masterpiece of human creative genius
- The lighthouse is a symbol of the great phases in the history of lighthouses in the
worldStep 2: Definition of the perimeter of the property and buffer zone
The second step consists in defining precisely the perimeter of the property. It includes the monument, the rocky plateau, the sandbanks and the navigation channels.
The property is also surrounded by a buffer zone, which is an area that protects the property and its immediate environment. This is the property’s setting.
This zone reinforces the identity of Cordouan and thus contributes to its preservation, enhancement and interpretation, including its landscape dimension. It extends to the banks of the estuary mouth:
– Right bank, from the Pointe de la Coubre to the Nonnes beach
– Left bank, from the outer harbor of Verdon to the beach of Gurp
– At sea, it stops when the colored beam meets the limit of the territorial waters.
Step 3: Presentation of the management plan
The management plan is the 3rd and last step of the national phase. It is a commitment on all the management measures and actions to be carried out in the long term to conserve and preserve the lighthouse.
This work was an opportunity to gather around the table all the actors of the territory to define the main orientations:
- to protect the lighthouse
- to share this exceptional monument with as many people as possible
- to improve the reception of tourists while limiting its impact
- to participate in the influence of the lighthouse throughout the world through international collaborations
