The GREEN-NC project: an inclusive management strategy for the environment protection

New Caledonia is one of the ten richest places in the world in terms of biodiversity. However, the funding available for environmental protection in the region does not match the scale of the need and does not reflects the conservation challenges facing the territory. In terms of preservation, administration deficiencies can be noticed. For instance, activities are often fragmented due to local regulations, and there is a lack of organisation and biological knowledge, which prevents effective environmental management. 

Picture: South Province

The project Green-NC has been created to overcome these management deficiencies. It offers the opportunity to develop synergistic, convergent and complementary actions on priority sites. It attempts to improve management of the territory at different scales as well as strengthening collective governance, through targeted training for the professionals responsible for protecting the local environment and the creation of a commission made up of professionals specialized in different areas of environmental protection. 

In many cases where we observe a failure of the environmental protection system, the first cause is linked to decision-making and the lack of collaboration between the actors involved in the different tasks, whether it is protection, restoration or reduction of the threat to the environment. Applying these various guidelines will help create a solid foundation for a more sustainable management of natural resources in New Caledonia and will thus help the archipelago adapt to ecological and socio-economic changes.

The overall objective is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of the multiple ecosystems of New Caledonia. So far, it has contributed to the improvement of biodiversity and ecosystems knowledge, by paying particular attention to the study of endemic species unique to New Caledonia such as conifers and palm trees for example. In addition, the GREEN-NC project supports the development of a local network linking natural sites of great environmental importance such as large natural parks. 

The project also contributes to the implementation of management plans in certain marine protected areas (MPAs) and allows the implementation of measures on small islands to guide visitors away from ecologically sensitive areas and limit the impacts of mass tourism. 

Source: https://www.mediaterre.org/actu,20200911020548,1.html