Agoa management council at work

On October 22, 2014, French environmental minister Ségolène Royal, and overseas minister George Pau-Langevin, during their official visit to Guadeloupe, presided over the installation of a management council for the Agoa sanctuary for the protection of marine mammals in the French Antilles. On May 21, 2015, this board held its first meeting at the prefecture in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Its 53 members elected Yvon Combes to the post of president, for a term of three years. Currently first vice president for the association of mayors in Guadeloupe, Yvon Combes has spent his entire professional career working for the National Forestry Office and was instrumental in establishing the National Park in Guadeloupe. Ramona Connor, second vice president for the Collectivity of Saint Martin, is one of the three vice presidents for the council. In order to facilitate the functioning of the Agoa, the management council established a board of 16 members, on which Saint Martin is well represented by: Bulent Gulay, president of the Métimer association; Stéphane Mazurier, vice president of Métimer; Kate Richardson, director of the Tourist Office; and Nicolas Maslach, director of the Réserve Naturelle. The council offered its first unanimous opinion against the use of seismic oceanographic prospection techniques, considering the level of impact involved could result in major impact for marine mammals. An international cooperation committee was also created, in order to work on the best strategies for the protection of marine mammals in the Caribbean region, and beyond. The members of the board next met in Saint Barthélemy on September 29, and the council met in Saint Martin on November 6, 2015 (details in the next edition).