Huge New Caledonia marine park embraced

Transcript

The creation of New Caledonia's new marine park has been embraced by environmentalists but its fishing restrictions are yet to be set.

The Natural Park of the Coral Sea will cover 1 point 3 million square kilometres and is said to be the world's largest marine reserve.
 
Bridget Tunnicliffe reports:

The park includes large areas of coral reefs, 25 species of marine mammals, 48 shark species, 19 species of nesting birds and five species of turtles.

Global Ocean Legacy, which is part of the Pew Charitable Trusts, aims to work with communities and governments to establish large, highly-protected marine reserves around the world.

Its project manager, Aline Schaffar, says the creation of the park sets the legal framework but there is a lot of work ahead.

"Future work will be over the next three years to work on the management plan and on marine planning to identify which areas are the most important to protect and from that decide on different levels of protection for different areas."

Aline Schaffar says the area must be protected before it is too late.

"If we don't protect it one day there will nothing to look at, there will be no more coral reef, no more fish, no more migratory species, that's what the richness of our ocean is today, so if we don't protect it we are going to lose it."

A New Caledonian environmental organisation says it supports the reserve but with some caveats.

The president of the Association for the Protection of Nature in New Caledonia, Jean-Louis d'Auzon, says the area must be fully protected if it is to be worthwhile.

"But there is a point for which we don't agree. It could be possible in this reserve to have mining and [other] exploitation. So we don't agree for that. If it is a reserve it must be protected."

And New Caledonia's sustainablity minister Anthony Lecren has released this statement:

"To some entent, since it is to have a better control of all the activities that take place there, governance of the park that covers the entire Exclusive Economic Zone will redefine our current activities in concepts of sustainable development and combine them with our goals and the issues of preservation and protection."

The Government of Vanuatu has expressed concerns about the inclusion of Matthew and Hunter Islands in the park, which is disputed territory between the two countries.

Here's Anthony Lecren again.

"We must together find ways and means to imagine with our brother country, is recognizing each other, more effective tools to ensure the proper management of this area."

Anthony Lecren says neighbouring countries in the area must co-exist and set an example in order to protect the environment.