Coral sea natural park : regulations contradict preservation objectives ; Parc naturel de la mer de Corail : une réglementation contraire aux objectifs de préservation

Abstract

The islets of the coral atolls of the New Caledonian Coral Sea Natural Park are among the last places in the Tropics with large colonies of a remarkable diversity of seabirds. They are also nesting sites for the green turtle. The reason is that these islets are protected by their remote-ness and that seabirds and sea turtles are less affected by human disturbance than in sites clos-er to human activities. An essential objective of the Natural Park is the "preservation of heri-tage, rare, endangered and migratory species". A preliminary analysis of the Natural Park's management decrees taken in August 2018 reveals, however, that the government of New Cal-edonia intends to develop professional tourism activities there and that it plans to let cruise ships and yachts enter the nature reserves, possibly drop anchor, and disembark passengers. Ultimately, as is now well documented, tourism activities including those pretending to be "sustainable" and "respectful of the environment" will inevitably lead to a demographic decline of the species most susceptible to disturbance, increasing the risk of their local extinction. Many of these species, including seabirds, sea turtles, sea snakes and marine mammals qualify as heritage, rare, endangered and migratory species. Therefore, there is a contradiction between the stated objectives and the regulations that have been published. This leads to the hypothesis that conservation issues were not correctly evaluated during the elaboration of the texts. ; Les îlots des atolls coralliens du parc naturel de la mer de Corail comptent parmi les derniers endroits de la zone intertropicale abritant des colonies nombreuses d'une diversité remarquable d'oiseaux marins. Ce sont aussi des sites de ponte pour la tortue verte. La raison est que ces îlots sont protégés par leur éloignement et que ces espèces y sont moins affectées par le dérangement que dans les sites plus proches des activités humaines. Un objectif essentiel du parc est la « préservation des espèces patrimoniales, rares, en ...