Background Numerous sensitive sites of ecological significance in Europe are faced with an increasing amount of, often badly-managed, tourist activity. Some of the sites are future Natura 2000 areas. While the sites should be examples of environmental responsibility, because of growing tourism impact, the ecological footprint of these sites is getting bigger. This situation results from a lack of appropriate methodological tools. Objectives The PROMESSE project aimed to carry out a demonstration on how environmental management techniques could be used to conserve and reduce the environmental impact of tourism at a nature reserve. The site in question was the Marais du Vigueirat conservation area in the Camargue in the south of France. This site is visited by 1 700 people per year, and has 11 permanent inhabitants and 40 employees. Each year human activity is associated with the production of 70 tons of solid waste, consumption of 990 cubic metres of drinking water, and expenditure of €15 000 in energy costs. The project aimed to achieve EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certification for the tourist infrastructure in the nature reserve, and to reduce the site's ecological footprint through voluntary measures. The project also embraced the area surrounding the nature reserve – an area with 15 000 inhabitants – in order to reduce the impact of external factors on the conservation site. Results The project successfully achieved all of its aims, with the overall effect of significantly reducing the environmental impacts caused by public use of the Marais du Vigueirat nature reserve. The project made considerable efforts to reduce environmental impacts on the conservation site through external activities, such as by pollutants entering the canal that empties into the Marais du Vigueirat. A sustainable development plan was put in place in consultation with the inhabitants of Mas Thibert, a village adjacent to the nature reserve. A management board was furthermore formed to work on the improvement of the water quality of the Canal du Vigueirat. These efforts are aimed to improve the environmental prospects of the area in the long term. EMAS certification was achieved for the site in mid-2008. At the project’s outset, it was foreseen that environmental management and actions directed towards the goal of achieving EMAS would reduce the site's ecological footprint by 30 percent. In fact, the project succeeded in cutting its environmental impact in a number of ways: heating energy consumption was cut by 49 percent between 2004 and 2007; efficiencies led to a 10 percent electricity consumption cut (2004-07); and water consumption was more than halved. Renewable energy infrastructure, such as photovoltaic panels, was put in place to give the site a sustainable source of power for the future. Information on improving the environmental impact of conservation sites was shared with the management of 20 very fragile conservation areas, who were invited to learn from the good practice developed by the project. While initially it was foreseen that the 20 areas would be selected from across Europe, the conservation areas that were eventually selected were in France. The managers of the selected areas received tailored training, and ten of them committed to carrying out similar work in their conservation areas. A further measure to ensure greater local understanding of the needs of the site was the distribution to 113 schools of an awareness-raising booklet for teachers. While the beneficiary notes that quantifying the impact of such measures is difficult, raised awareness of the issues among local inhabitants and stakeholders should serve to reduce significantly the external pressure on the Marais du Vigueirat. The project has received various awards including the “Jean-Roland” award (a national award on the “reconciliation of man and nature”), the “MIREILLE” prize (a prize given by the regional environmental agency for exemplary projects on sustainable development in the Côte d’ Azur region), and a regional eco-tourism prize (provided by the Provence region, Côte d’ Azur). Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section). This project has been selected as one of the 17 "Best" LIFE Environment projects in 2008-2009