FRANCE FRANCE A. THOMASSIN Ministry in charge of Ecology Curaao. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

WORKSHOP – GCRMN in the Widder Caribbean Review, improve and revitalize the network and the nodes for more effective coral reef monitoring and data management FRANCE FRANCE A. THOMASSIN – Ministry in charge of Ecology Curaçao. 6 – 8 August 2014

French islands in the wider Caribbean 4 overseas collectivities : Overseas departments belonging to EU - Guadeloupe Under EU and national - Martinique regulations Dependencies of Guadeloupe until 2007 - Saint-Martin With an autonomous - Saint-Barthélémy status nowadays St-Martin belongs to EU but not St-Barthélémy Different status of french islands in Caribbean complicate the management of GCRMN at the local scale The national level, through IFRECOR, is the best way to coordinate the different monitoring conducted at the local scale

GCRMN in Martinique 3 different protocols: 1. Expert protocol -Technical operator: OMMM association -Since: 5 sites in 2002. Gradual increase of sites number. 13 sites in 2013 -Frequency: annual -Data: coral species identification thanks to video transects. Density of sea urchins. BELT protocol for fish. -Archive: Xcel table -Data circulation: circulated to local authority (DEAL) and to ICRI

GCRMN in Martinique 3 different protocols: 2. WFD protocol -Technical operator: private compagny (ImpactMer) -Since: 15 sites since 2007 -Frequency: variable among stations -Data: PIT protocol for corals and benthic organisms abundance (algae and sessile invertebrates). Gender indentification for coral and macroalgae. Sea urchins counting. Density of juvenile and adult corals. -Archive: Database Quadrige² (Ifremer) -Data circulation: circulated to local and national authority (DEAL, Ministry) and reporting to EU peut-être donner quand même une idée

GCRMN in Martinique 3 different protocols: 3. ReefCheck protocol -Technical operator: Scuba diving Centers -Since: 2009 but the network is suffering from deficit of volonteers. No monitoring in 2013 . -Frequency: twice a year -Data: Line transect for substrate (coral, algae, sponge,...), BELT transect for fishes and mobile invertebrates -Archive: Xcel table and ReefCheck online database -Data circulation: circulated to local authority (DEAL)

GCRMN in Martinique New stations to come - Network of new WFD sites in Fort de France bay - Network of new stations inside the Marine Reserve of Le Prêcheur Strongest area All the leeward coast Weakest area On the windward coast, due to difficult sea conditions

GCRMN in Guadeloupe / St-Martin / St Barthélémy

GCRMN in Guadeloupe / St-Martin / St Barthélémy 4 different protocols: 1. Expert protocol -Technical operator: Antilles Guyane University -Since: 5 sites in Guadeloupe, 2 in St-Barthélémy, began between 2002 and 2004 -Frequency: twice a year -Data: same as Martinique -Archive: Xcel table -Data circulation: circulated to ICRI. No circulation to local and national authority 2. MPA monitoring protocol -Technical operator: Local Authority (DEAL) / MPAs / Private compagny (Pareto) -Since: 3 sites in Guadeloupe, 3 in St-Barthélémy, 2 in St-Martin began between 2005 and 20011 -Frequency: annual -Data: benthic community structure (soft and hard coral cover), macro algae cover, coral recruitment, general state of health, coral bleaching, sea urchin density, targeted species of fishes, abundance and size. -Archive: Xcel table and Coremo -Data circulation: circulated to local and national authority. No circulation to ICRI

GCRMN in Guadeloupe / St-Martin / St Barthélémy 4 different protocols: 3. ReefCheck protocol -Technical operator: Local Authority (DEAL), Private compagny (Pareto) and Scuba diving centers -Since: 7 sites in Guadeloupe, 1 in St-Martin, began between 2007 and 2012 -Frequency: minimum once a year -Data: same as Martinique -Archive: Xcel table and Coremo -Data circulation: circulated to local authority 4. WFD protocol -Technical operator: Private compagny (Pareto) -Since: 8 sites in Guadeloupe, 1 in St-Martin, began in 2008 -Frequency: on per year / depends on stations -Data: same as Martinique -Archive: Database Quadrige² (Ifremer) -Data circulation: circulated to local and national authority (DEAL, Ministry) and reporting to EU

GCRMN in Guadeloupe / St-Martin / St Barthélémy Strongest area : heart of the Natural Parc of Guadeloupe Weakeast area

Old organisation of French GCRMN in Caribbean Old organisation of French GCRMN in Caribbean A. BRATHWAITE GCRMN Node coordination for the Eastern Caribbean (Gvt of Barbados) IFRECOR IFRECOR (National authority) (National authority) Country coordinator for C. And Y.BOUCHON French West Indies (University of Antilles Guyane) F. VEDIE F. MAZEAS (Local authority (Local authority DEAL Martinique) DEAL Guadeloupe validation validation MARTINIQUE GUADELOUPE / St MARTIN / St Technical node for each BARTHELEMY JP. MARECHAL (Observatoire french island Martiniquais du Milieu Marin - C. BOUCHON (University of OMMM) Antilles Guyane) Protocols Protocols •Expert protocol: OMMM •Expert protocol: University of Antilles Focal point for each Guyane monitoring protocol •WFD: Impactmer •MPA protocol: DEAL/Pareto/MPA •ReefCheck: Scuba diving centers •ReefCheck: DEAL/Pareto

Old organisation of French GCRMN in Caribbean Old organisation of French GCRMN in Caribbean A. BRATHWAITE GCRMN Node coordination for the Eastern Caribbean (Gvt of Barbados) IFRECOR IFRECOR N O (National authority) (National authority) I S Country coordinator for C. And Y.BOUCHON I V French West Indies (University of Antilles Guyane) E R L F. VEDIE F. MAZEAS E R (Local authority (Local authority V E E DEAL Martinique) DEAL Guadeloupe D validation validation L N L U A MARTINIQUE GUADELOUPE / St MARTIN / St Y N L Technical node for each BARTHELEMY O JP. MARECHAL (Observatoire T french island I N T Martiniquais du Milieu Marin - C. BOUCHON (University of E A OMMM) Antilles Guyane) R N R T U A C Protocols Protocols •Expert protocol: OMMM •Expert protocol: University of Antilles Focal point for each Guyane monitoring protocol •WFD: Impactmer •MPA protocol: DEAL/Pareto/MPA •ReefCheck: Scuba diving centers •ReefCheck: DEAL/Pareto

Strenghts and weaknesses of French GCRMN Strenghts and weaknesses of French GCRMN Weaknesses: - Too many structures, leading to difficulties in data exchange and communication - No clear mandat defined for technical nodes and country coordinator - Data sent to ICRI are not always transmitted and validated by local and/or national authorities -No valorisation of data collected at local level Strenghts: - A well-developped network of monitoring sites - A good spatial distribution of sites - A historical perspective on data from many sites - Most of the protocols used in the region (WFD, ReefCheck, MPA monitoring) are almost similar France has the willingness to revise the structure of the French network GCRMN, by officially nominating representatives in each island with clear terms of reference. This work is currently underway. A progress report will be presented at next ICRI GM29.