Study Area - Response of Flood Events to Land Use and Climate Change - page 113

landscape is characterized by many landslides, torrents, debris fans, and it is also
influenced by human activity such as reforestation or the installation of check dams.
According to Weber's investigation (1994), sheep breeding played a very
important role in the rural economy of the Barcelonnette Basin for a long time. Every
summer, shepherds would take their flocks up to alpine pastures to graze. This
resulted in deforestation (15-16th centuries) of high altitude areas for cultivation,
which in turn caused considerable damage to the land because of soil erosion, debris
flow, and increasingly frequent flooding. To combat these detrimental effects, local
laws were put in place to regulate the amount of wood cutting and sheep grazing.
During the twentieth century, extensive reforestation took place in the entire Ubaye
Valley.
The Restauration des Terrains en Montagne (RTM) started a vast operation of
reforestation and construction of dams along the torrents. This development
influenced the occurrence and intensity of the hazards and helped reduce them.
Barcelonnette is a small town but nevertheless plays an important administrative,
commercial, and communication role, providing many tourist activities, hotels, a
hospital, and hosts various industries. The mountains are very attractive for skies
and hikers. Therefore, the town of Barcelonnette adjusts to these demands,
building ski-fields, walking tracks, roads, hotels, etc.
Due to the deforestation of large land areas and the resulting consequences,
reforestation started in 1864 based on reforestation laws in the area. These
activities included the reforestation of 25,000 ha, the construction of several
hundred barriers, and the installation of drains. The benefits of these activities were
seen after 1887, when debris flow began to disappear, especially between 1929 and
1948. However, because these constructions were not maintained, they started to
deteriorate. As a consequence, there was an increase in flood hazards after 1950,
with a centennial flood of the Ubaye River in June 1957 [ 8 ].
The continuous changes in the land use in terms of clearing for agricultural
practices in the last two centuries and instability of climatic factors have also
caused damages in the area [ 8 ]. Agricultural activities started in the Roman period
and reached their peak in the second half of the last century, so much that the
slopes have almost been completely cleared for cultivation resulting in more and
more flooding, landslides, and debris flows which lead to catastrophic damages. To
reduce them, the Restauration des Terrains en Montagne office (RTM) started a
vast operation of reforestation and construction of dams along the torrents.
Now, the current land use category in this area mostly includes coniferous forests
(55.94 %), broad-leaved forests (4.85 %), natural grassland (0.8 %), arable land/
permanent crops (13.64 %), pastures (8.38 %), bare rocks (1.6 %), black marls
(2.86 %), urban fabric (11.24 %), airdrome (0.45 %), water course (0.21 %),
marshes, and water bodies (0.01 %) (Fig. 4.17 ).