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La maîtrise des
impacts
anthropiques
sur les espaces
protégés
Le Journal de la
Réserve Naturelle
Nationale de
Saint-Martin N°26
Octobre 2016
Managing The
Impact Of
Human
Activities In
Protected Areas
8
Sharing for protection
The monitoring and improvement of the
condition of their coral reefs is an environ-
mental priority for a growing number of Ca-
ribbean islands interested in standardizing
the techniques they employ in order to per-
fect these natural resources.
That is one of
the reasons that the Global Coral Reef Monito-
ring Network (GCRMN) organized a technical
atelier in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, April 17-26,
2016. Julien Chalifour, director of the scientific
sector of the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Mar-
tin, attended and met with scientists from the
USA, Cuba, Venezuela, and Barbados, as well
as Saba, Statia, Sint Maarten, and Saint Barth.
They presented their monitoring techniques
and pooled their common experiences and
knowledge in the spirit of sharing. As a result,
several presentations increased awareness of
the actions outlined in the highly compatible
protocol that has been in effect in Saint Mar-
tin since 2008. One of these activities, better
estimating the transparency of the water thanks
to a Secchi disk, has already been taken into
consideration. The SPAW-RAC, co-organizer
of the event, financed the trip for Julien Chali-
four and Sébastien Gréaux, his counterpart at
the Territorial Environmental Agency of Saint
Barthélemy. This harmonization of methods,
and the data produced, will contribute to impro-
vement in the exchanges between the partici-
pants, as well as enhancing the global vision
and overall condition of the coral reefs in the
Caribbean, with an eye toward sustainable re-
gional management.
Kai Wulf, du Parc Marin de Saba, sur le terrain
Kai Wulf, from the Saba Marine Park, on the field