Coastal dunes are important habitats that also play an important role in coastal protection. In areas of high tourist activity, they have often been degraded by trampling and intensive use, resulting in a loss of ecological, aesthetic and protective values. As a result, several management actions have been taken to minimise dune degradation and enhance their recovery. One of these measures is the installation of elevated boardwalks and dune crossovers to regulate human access to the beaches. This paper quantifies and analyses the impact of the installation of boardwalks and dune crossovers on dune recovery in a highly touristic area in southern Portugal. This was done using aerial photographs taken before and 5–10 years after the implementation of the measures, and an effectiveness index was applied. The recovery observed was high to very high, ranging from 51% to 98% of the previously degraded dune. The areas with the oldest interventions showed an average recovery of 86% of the degraded area, while the most recently managed areas showed an average recovery of 69%. The high rate of recovery is mainly explained by the new habits developed by the population and tourists to access the beaches. Nevertheless, in some specific cases (i.e. where the use of the boardwalks requires a detour or where they end far from the beach) new degraded areas were observed, indicating the high relevance of the design of the boardwalks to the final recovery result. This work can serve as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of coastal management measures in any other coastal dune area with similar interventions.
