Authorities pay much attention to coastal conservation, but the related problems are very difficult to solve. Population pressure is very high everywhere. Since the sixties, new laws and regulations have been adopted but it is doubtful if they are sufficient. Several legal statutes exist for protected areas. Nature reserves are best preserved; in national and regional parks, protection of natural features and the provision of facilities for leisure are taken care of. Regional problems are briefly reviewed. In the second part of the paper, recent geomorphological studies of the coasts of France are described. The Gironde estuary, the Rhone delta and the benthic ecosystems in sheltered Breton bays have been carefully investigated. Several sand spits in the Bay of Biscay and in north-western Brittany, which show rapid changes, have been described, and also some noteworthy calcareous conglomerates. Problems of mud flats and coastal marshes have received much attention, and the sequence of Holocene events has been established. All these investigations require more measurements, accurate mapping and levelling. Remote sensing by satellites has already been widely used. On the other hand, Pleistocene coastal chronology, on the west coast of France, continues to be a matter for discussion.