A management council for Agoa

France’s Protected Areas Agency, managers of the Agoa marine mammal sanctuary, took advantage of the visit to Guadeloupe by French minister of the environment Ségolène Royal, and overseas minister George Pau-Langevin, to officially install the management council for Agoa at the offices of the National Park of Guadeloupe on October 22. Composed of 53 members who represent the diversity of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, this council will define and ensure the management of the sanctuary, establish its activities program, and provide evaluation based on a management chart as approved. Saint Martin is represented by prefect Philippe Chopin, the president of the Collectivité, Aline Hanson, who was represented here by vice president Ramona Connor, Nicolas Maslach, director of the Réserve Naturelle of Saint-Martin, Gary Page (Saint Martin fisherman’s association), Bulent Gulay (federation of nautical industries in Saint Martin), Stéphane Mazurier (operators of marine mammal observation and tourism for the Northern Islands), and Jeanne Rogers-Vanterpool (president of the tourist office). Created on October 23, 2012, the Agoa sanctuary covers over 55,000 square miles, or the totality of the economic zone exclusive to the French West Indies. Its goal is to guarantee a high level of conservation for marine mammals by protecting them, as well as their habitat, and the impacts - direct or indirect, confirmed or potential - of human activities.