Coastal Vulnerability to Oil Spill Pollution: the Case of Noirmoutier Island (France)

"Over the last 30 years, oil spills have contributed significantly to coastal and marine pollution, causing disturbance of the coastal environment. This recurrent hazard has increasingly been taken into account through prevention plans in Coastal Zones Integrated Management". The aim of this paper is to formalize "an alternative approach to map global vulnerability, using both environmental and socioeconomic factors. This article describes and discusses the methodology used to identify the critical variables required to assess coastal vulnerability to oil spills".