Long Term Goal N°2 : Surveillance by Territorial Environmental Police - SP

Long Term Goal N°2 : Surveillance by Territorial Environmental Police - SP

Long Term Goal N°2 : Surveillance by Territorial Environmental Police - SP

Une tourterelle - A turtledove
Une tourterelle - A turtledove

During the first quarter of 2021, the technical office and the nature police of La Réserve Naturelle ran 178 control patrols: 79 patrols on land and 99 at sea. Of these, 30 controls were judged non-conforming: 16 on land and 14 at sea. Three reports were made for infractions.

Action SP2 Continue and Reinforce Missions by the Environmental Police

A decree to regulate hunting

On May 6 2021, as a local ornithology expert, Julien Chalifour participated in a video conference oganized by the OFB, on behalf of the Departmental Commission For Hunting and Wildlife for the islands of Saint Martin and Guadeloupe. A report on hunting logs and police action related to hunting – controls and fines – was presented, as well as a look at the production of scientific knowlegde on the kinds and numbers of species hunted. At the end of the meeting, it was decided to continue the dialogue in order to outline a proposition for an annual decree that would govern hunting during the 2001- 2022 season, between July 25, 2021 and January 2, 2022. This decree would define the hunting season, conditions, huntable species, and eventual quotas. Few hunting licenses are requested in Saint Martin, where people hunt ducks, turtledoves, pigeons, mockingbirds… The same is not true in Guadeloupe, but in both cases, hunting quotas are limited for certain species if their numbers are considered too low. Hunters from Guadeloupe sometimes come to Saint Martin, where the birds are less fearful than those in Guadeloupe. Remember that all hunting is forbidden in La Réserve Naturelle!

Panneaux solaires sur l’îlet Pinel - Solar Panels on Pinel Islet
Panneaux solaires sur l’îlet Pinel - Solar Panels on Pinel Islet
  • On April 15, 2021, Julien Chalifour was the civil party in the judgment of S.L. in the criminal court and requested 1 euro in damages and interest. In October 2020, when S. L. was on a scooter and caused a traffic jam on the road in Cul-de-Sac. When drivers on the road started honking with impatience, he decided to make a fast u-turn against two lanes of traffic, causing Chalifour to slam on his brakes to avoid him. Rather agitated, S. L. – who had just recognized the agent as the one who had caught him in the act of illegal fishing in the natural reserve a few months earlier – moved alongside the car to threaten, insult, and use physical violence against Chalifour and the vehicle belonging to La Réserve. Absent from the hearing, S.L. was judged guilty of the charges.
  • The manager of a restaurant on Pinel was reported for three infractions of the environmental code, after the installation of solar panels on a surface of 115 square meters, protected within La Réserve Naturelle. The management association of La Réserve Naturelle blamed him for having modified the appearance of a national natural reserve without permission, for not having informed the management association about this work, and not respecting the formal notice issued by La Réserve Naturelle. This report, relating to the environmental code — and not the urbanism code, like other infractions on Pinel— has been sent to the prosecutor.
  • plane from the Grand-Case Air Club was reported for flying over the island of Tintamarre and trying to land there.
  • A gyrocopter was also reported for flying over Tintamarre. The pilots of these aircrafts were called before the prosecutor and reminded of the letter of the law.
  • La Réserve has reinforced surveillance on the 20-meter strip of water closest to the coastline, as this zone is forbidden by prefectural decree to mooring with an anchor.
  • A semi-rigid boat was seized by La Réserve at the Salines d’Orient salt pond, where it was found abandoned on the shore. It has been stored by La Réserve.
  • On May 10, 2021, La Réserve seized a fish net and a trap that were found at the mouth of the Etang aux Poissons.

L’avion de l’aéroclub de Grand-Case survolant Tintamarre The plane from the Grand-Case Air Club flying over TintamarreLe canot saisi par la réserve naturelle The boat seized by La Réserve NaturelleUn filet saisi par la réserve - Fish net seized by the reserve

Les gardes assermentés et la brigade nautique de la gendarmerie en mission conjointe The certified guards of La Réserve and the nautical brigade of the gendarmerie on a joint mission
Les gardes assermentés et la brigade nautique de la gendarmerie en mission conjointe The certified guards of La Réserve and the nautical brigade of the gendarmerie on a joint mission

Collaboration with the gendarmerie

For many years, the environmental police at La Réserve have worked in collaboration with the gendarmerie, and exchange information regularly with various services and the military.

  • The local chief of mobile gendarmes regularly invites La Réserve to meet the new squads when they arrive on the island.
  • La Réserve and the Security and Intervention Squad of the Gendarmerie (PSIG) share their information via two WhatsApp numbers.
  • La Réserve has an emergency number for the PSIG officer on duty, available 24/7.
  • La Réserve and the nautical brigade of the gendarmerie collaborate regularly and occasionally organize joint operations.
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