Grand Site de France · Heritage & governance
The Gorges du Verdon’s Grand Site de France application
Since 2010, the Verdon Regional Nature Park has been preparing, together with seven communes, the Gorges du Verdon’s application for the “Grand Site de France” label. A file exists, dated 30 January 2026 — but the label itself has not yet been obtained. Here is where this process really stands, explained simply, sourced and verified.
- Label sought
- “Grand Site de France”, awarded by the State
- Status on 20 August 2026
- Application under way — label not yet obtained
- Project leader
- Verdon Regional Nature Park, since 2010
- Scope
- 7 communes · 2 departments · 4 intercommunal authorities
- Application file
- Version dated 30 January 2026
What is the Grand Site de France label?
The Grand Site de France is a State label. It does not classify a site — it rewards the management of a site that is already classified, very well known and heavily visited, whose manager commits to a project of preservation, public reception and enhancement in line with sustainable development. Since 2010 it has been written into article L. 341-15-1 of the French Environment Code (Grenelle II law of 12 July 2010) and is awarded by the minister responsible for Sites after the opinion of the competent departmental commissions (CDNPS and CSSPP) and of the Réseau des Grands Sites de France, then published by decree. It is granted for 8 years (6 years before July 2023), renewable — and can be withdrawn if the commitments made are not respected.
In other words: the “Opération Grand Site” is the process and the work carried out on the ground since 2010; “Grand Site de France” is the final label, awarded once the file has been examined. The label remains rare: fewer than thirty sites hold it in France today — Pont du Gard, Baie de Somme, Cirque de Navacelles… — and another twenty or so sites, like the Verdon, are still working towards it.
One Grand Site, 7 communes, 2 departments
The perimeter of the Gorges du Verdon Grand Site brings together seven communes, four intercommunal authorities and two departments — an exercise in governance in its own right, led by the Verdon Regional Nature Park. The Park, a joint association of local authorities (syndicat mixte), has no regulatory power of its own: the communes remain the decision-makers on their own territory, with the Park acting as technical coordinator and project leader for the file.
A long-haul process
- 1990
The Gorges du Verdon are protected under the 1930 law on natural monuments and sites — the regulatory foundation without which the application would not be possible.
- 2009 – May 2010
The Grand Site project is formalised, then approved by all the partners (State, Region, departments, communes): a framework agreement is signed in May 2010. The Verdon Regional Nature Park leads the process, known as the “Opération Grand Site”.
- 2019 – 2023
Concrete works under the Opération Grand Site: reflection on restructuring the Point Sublime from 2019, reopening of the redeveloped site in 2021, inauguration of the Point Sublime visitor centre (“maison de site”) in 2023 (Rougon); development of the Col d’Illoire viewpoint, in Aiguines.
- 7 – 13 November 2025
The State appoints two independent mediators, Nicolas Le Méhauté and Anne-Laure Brun-Buisson, for a consultation on how water-based activities (swimming, canyoning, water sports) can coexist with the protection of fragile environments. A public workshop is held on 13 November in Castellane.
- 30 January 2026
Date of the version of the Grand Site de France label application file published by the Park (38 MB, plus 36 MB of appendices). The Park’s website still presents the project as a “Grand Site de France in development”: as of that date, the application had not yet led to the label being awarded.
The stakes: international visitor numbers, fragile environments
The gorges welcome more than a million visitors every year (Verdon Regional Nature Park), with a strong concentration in summer — up to 500 hikers a day on the most iconic trails at peak times. A pace that weighs on the roads, the viewpoints and the natural environments. The cliffs shelter protected wildlife that is sensitive to disturbance: griffon vulture (reintroduced) and cinereous vulture, bearded vulture, golden eagle, peregrine falcon — with nesting periods that activities such as climbing must respect. The label aims precisely to formalise a form of management that reconciles this level of visitors with the preservation of the site, and to give the territory more resources — funding, engineering, recognition — to steer it.
That is precisely the purpose of the mediation opened at the end of 2025: water uses (swimming, canyoning, water sports) are among the points that the area’s stakeholders still have to reconcile with the preservation of aquatic ecosystems before the file can succeed.
On 23 August 2026, the date this page was verified, the Gorges du Verdon have not obtained the label — the Verdon Regional Nature Park still presents the project as a “Grand Site de France in development”. The application file available on the Park’s website is dated 30 January 2026; an independent mediation launched by the State at the end of 2025 completes the process. We have not found, in any official source, a specific date announced for a decision: the exact timetable of the examination (appearance before commissions, opinion of the Réseau des Grands Sites de France, ministerial decree) has not been published at this stage. This page will be updated as soon as a decision is made public.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Grand Site de France label?
A State label that distinguishes sites that are already classified, very well known and heavily visited, whose manager commits to a project of preservation, management and enhancement in line with sustainable development. It has been written since 2010 into article L. 341-15-1 of the French Environment Code (Grenelle II law of 12 July 2010) and is awarded by the minister responsible for Sites after the opinion of the competent departmental commissions and of the Réseau des Grands Sites de France, for a renewable period of 8 years (6 years before July 2023).
Is the Verdon already a “Grand Site de France”?
No, not yet. The Verdon has been engaged in an application process since 2010 — the Verdon Regional Nature Park itself presents it as a “Grand Site de France in development”. An application file, in its version of 30 January 2026, has been submitted, but we have not found any source confirming a decision to award the label to date. This page will be updated as soon as an official decision is published.
Which are the 7 communes of the Gorges du Verdon Grand Site?
Four communes in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence — Castellane, Rougon, La Palud-sur-Verdon, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie — and three communes in the Var — Comps-sur-Artuby, Trigance, Aiguines. The perimeter also covers four intercommunal authorities and two departments.
How long has this application been under way?
The “Opération Grand Site” that prepares the ground was approved in 2010, with a framework agreement signed in May of that year, after a project formalised as early as 2009. Work on the ground has continued for more than fifteen years, ahead of the submission of an application file for the label itself, whose currently available version dates from 30 January 2026.
Who decides whether to award the label?
The State. The application file is submitted for the opinion of the departmental commissions for nature, landscapes and sites (CDNPS and CSSPP), then to that of the Réseau des Grands Sites de France; the final decision rests with the minister responsible for Sites, by decree published in the official bulletin of the Ministry of Ecology.