Les aires marines protégées en 2019

• The national strategy for creating and managing marine protected areas (MPAs) aims notably to develop the network of overseas marine protected areas. In 2019, the marine protected area network comprises 546 sites in mainland France and overseas territories, including mixed zones (land and sea) or strictly marine areas, of which 302 are of international status. The collective area of all MPAs covers 2,419,325 km², or 23.57% of French maritime space. 377 of these 546 MPAs, or 1,700,600 km², have a management document.

• The proportion of French waters covered by the marine protected area network has increased significantly since 1963, notably with the creation of the Coral Sea Natural Park in New Caledonia in April 2014. This park is the largest French marine protected area and covers 1,291,000 km². It extends across all waters under French jurisdiction in New Caledonia, or 1,244,000 km², and represents 53.4% of the total area of the MPA network.

• Marine protected areas: 2,419,325 km²: 23.57%: 546 sites • Marine protected areas over 3 years old with a management document: 1,700,604 km²: 16.57%: 377 sites • Marine protected areas of international status: 363,215 km²: 3.54%: 302 sites

• The situation remains highly contrasted between mainland France and overseas territories. Mainland France, which represents only 3.64% of French maritime waters, is covered by a network of small and numerous MPAs. Conversely, overseas maritime spaces, which represent 96.36% of French waters, have heterogeneous MPA coverage. Thus, French Antilles, New Caledonia, Mayotte, and subantarctic islands are well-covered territories, unlike other areas such as Réunion Island, Wallis and Futuna, French Guiana, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

• As of July 1, 2019, the marine protected area network notably includes: • 36 nature reserves covering a total of more than 675,000 km², or 27.4% of the total area of the MPA network. The national nature reserve of French Southern Territories occupies by itself nearly the entire cumulative area of French marine nature reserves (approximately 673,000 km² without its protection perimeter); • 9 marine natural parks, 6 in mainland France (Iroise, Gulf of Lion, Gironde Estuary and Pertuis Sea, Picardy Estuaries and Opal Sea, Arcachon Basin and Cape Corse and Agriate) and 3 in overseas territories (Mayotte, Glorieuses, and Martinique). These sites collectively cover 185,000 km², or 7.7% of the total MPA network area; • 224 sites including at least one marine part from the European Natura 2000 network; these sites are present only in mainland France and represent in number more than half of the MPAs but only 9.3% of the total area of the network.

Overall, the MPA network under international conventions comprises 302 sites in mainland France and overseas territories, representing a total area of 363,215 km², or 3.54% of French maritime space.

• Marine natural park: 9: 185,049 km²: 7.65% • National park: 3: 4,016 km²: 0.17% • Nature reserve (national, regional, territorial collectivity of Corsica): 36: 675,824 km²: 27.37% • Biotope protection area: 19: 1,852 km²: 0.08% • Public maritime domain of the Coastal Conservation: 55: 200 km²: 0.01% • NATURA 2000 - Birds Directive sites: 82: 118,966 km²: 4.92% • NATURA 2000 - Habitats Fauna Flora Directive sites: 142: 105,735 km²: 4.37% • National hunting and wildlife reserve: 142: 105,735 km²: 4.37% • Wetland of international importance (RAMSAR convention): 16: 21,988 km²: 0.91% • Marine protected area (OSPAR convention): 39: 38,157 km²: 1.58% • Specially protected area of Mediterranean importance (Barcelona convention): 6: 44,296 km²: 1.83% • Marine protected area (Cartagena convention): 6: 143,334 km²: 5.92% • Site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List: 3: 24,381 km²: 1.01% • Biosphere reserve (UNESCO): 5: 9,673 km²: 0.40%

• The proportion of French waters covered by the marine protected area network has increased significantly since 1963, the year the Port-Cros National Park was created, the first protected area with a marine component (13 km² of sea area). In 2019, the total area of MPAs, without double counting [2], represents 2,419,325 km², or approximately 23.57% of French maritime space. • Until the early 2000s, in the absence of a national strategy for marine space protection and management, the proportion of French waters with marine protected areas remained stable, despite the creation in 1977 of the Fakarava Biosphere Reserve in French Polynesia (the first large-scale MPA with 3,400 km²).

• The 2000s were marked by the signature of a tripartite agreement between France, Italy, and Monaco in 1999 leading to the Pelagos Sanctuary for marine mammals in the Mediterranean, established by the Barcelona Convention as a specially protected area of Mediterranean importance (SPAMI) in 2001 and recognized in French law as a marine protected area in 2011. With the creation of the National Nature Reserve of French Southern Territories in 2006, these two events brought the coverage of French waters classified as marine protected areas to 0.7% of French maritime space.

• In 2012, the Agoa Sanctuary for marine mammals (specially protected area of the Cartagena Convention) was created and covers all French maritime space in the Antilles, or 145,000 km². • The year 2014 was marked by the creation of the Coral Sea Natural Park, the largest French marine protected area. It covers all waters under French jurisdiction in New Caledonia under the competence of the New Caledonian Government (that is, the Exclusive Economic Zone), or 1,244,000 km². Waters under French sovereignty are not affected and other MPAs specific to the jurisdiction of the three provinces exist separately. • In 2016, Decree No. 2016-1700 of December 12, 2016 extended the National Nature Reserve of French Southern Territories to the exclusive economic zone and its area was increased to more than 670,000 km². • In 2017, the Martinique Marine Natural Park was created. It covers an area of 48,900 km² and integrates all maritime space (waters under sovereignty and waters under jurisdiction). • In 2018, the Natura 2000 network at sea was extended offshore (EEZ). The number of MPAs from the Natura 2000 network reached 224 sites in 2019 and the covered area reached 224,700 km².

A management document for an MPA allows formalizing the objectives of its management and action programs implemented to achieve them. When a marine protected area is created, a period of three years is considered standard for producing and adopting a management document. As of January 1, 2019, 377 MPAs created before January 1, 2016 out of the 437 existing MPAs at that date have a management document, corresponding to an area of 1,700,600 km². Marine protected areas with an active management document belong to the following categories (with the type of management document in parentheses):

• Nature reserve (management plan); • Biosphere reserve (management plan); • Public maritime domain of the Coastal Conservation (management plan); • Marine natural park (PNM) (management plan); • Natura 2000 site – Birds Directive and Habitats Fauna Flora Directive sites (management objective); • National park (charter); • Biotope protection area (order); • National hunting and wildlife reserve (order);

Other sites under regional sea conventions and international conventions (OSPAR marine protected area, specially protected area of Mediterranean importance – Barcelona Convention, specially protected area of the Cartagena Convention, RAMSAR Convention site on wetlands of international importance, UNESCO biosphere reserve and site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List), sites often geographically overlapping with other MPA categories with management documents, benefit from these measures and are thus considered to have management documents.

• In 2019, mainland French marine waters are covered by more than 45% of their surface by marine protected areas. However, they represent only 7% of the total area of the French MPA network. In addition to the importance of the Natura 2000 network (224 sites), the MPA network in mainland France notably includes 6 marine natural parks and the vast Pelagos SPAMI. • In overseas territories, French Antilles are entirely covered by the Agoa Sanctuary, recognized as a specially protected area of the Cartagena Convention since October 2012. It covers an area of approximately 145,000 km², the entire French maritime space in French Antilles. • French waters of Mayotte, almost entirely covered by the Marine Natural Park, represent 2.8% of the total area of the network. Since April 2014, the Coral Sea Natural Park covers all waters under the jurisdiction of New Caledonia, or 1,244,000 km², and represents 53.4% of the total area of the MPA network. • Other overseas regions, such as French Polynesia, whose waters contain nearly half of the area under French jurisdiction, are still poorly covered by the marine protected area network. • Finally, the National Nature Reserve of French Southern Territories, the largest national nature reserve (approximately 673,000 km² without its protection perimeter), covers 40.7% of the marine region of subantarctic islands (approximately 1,654,000 km²). • Proportion of each marine region covered by the marine protected area network

• Atlantic Ocean: Saint Pierre and Miquelon has a single MPA (public maritime domain of the Coastal Conservation) of 10 km². • French Guiana has 9 MPAs for a total protected area of 2,600 km². French Antilles, comprising the departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and the collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, count 51 MPAs for a total area of 144,900 km², or 6.0% of the total area of the MPA network. • Mainland France has 365 MPAs, representing 67% of the national total and 7.0% of the total area of the network. The mainland Natura 2000 network (224 sites) represents 61% of the number of mainland MPAs. • Number and total area of marine protected areas by geographic region • Indian Ocean: Réunion Island has a national nature reserve for an area of 35 km². Subantarctic islands under the administration of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories have 2 MPAs, covering more than 673,000 km², or more than 27.8% of the total area of the marine protected area network. • The department of Mayotte has 10 marine protected areas, for a total area of approximately 68,000 km², or 2.8% of the total area of the network. • Scattered Islands under the administration of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories have 2 MPAs, covering more than 45,000 km², or 1.9% of the total area of the network. • Pacific Ocean: French Polynesia comprises 47 MPAs, for an area of 3,300 km². The Clipperton marine region has one marine protected area, for an area of 1,800 km². • New Caledonia has 57 marine protected areas, for a total area of 1,312,170 km², or 54.2% of the total area of the MPA network. • Wallis and Futuna do not currently have marine protected areas although 2 projects are under study.

• A marine protected area is a defined geographic space at sea within which a long-term objective of nature protection has been established. It must be the subject of a management document describing the objectives and management measures as well as the action program. The protection objective is not exclusive of other objectives, particularly controlled economic development. • At national and local scales, various laws define the legal status of marine protected areas. • Law No. 2006-436 of April 14, 2006 relating to national parks, marine natural parks and regional natural parks, as well as the order of June 3, 2011 (NOR: DEVL 111317A), define at the national scale the different categories of marine protected areas within the competence of the Marine Protected Area Agency

• At the international level, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires States Parties to protect and preserve the marine environment. France has ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (1989), which aims, among other things, to protect global marine space through the establishment of a coherent network of marine protected areas. • At the European scale, France implements the Birds and Habitats Fauna Flora directives which guide the creation of the Natura 2000 network of sites and since 2008, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive which aims to maintain and/or achieve a good ecological status of European waters, particularly through the establishment of a marine strategy and programs of measures integrating the establishment of a coherent network of marine protected areas. • At the national level, France is also involved in six regional sea conventions (OSPAR, Barcelona, Cartagena, Nairobi, Nouméa, CCAMLR) that integrate marine protected areas as operational tools necessary for proper management and protection of the marine environment. • Furthermore, the biodiversity strategy (2011–2020) is based notably on the implementation of the Natura 2000 network and the creation of 10 marine parks by 2012. The Grenelle Environment and Grenelle Sea summits also set ambitious objectives for managing and protecting marine space, notably the classification of 20% of waters under French jurisdiction as marine protected areas by 2020. • Finally, the new national strategy for creating and managing marine protected areas, adopted in April 2012, provides a framework and sets precise guidance for the creation and management of the MPA network in overseas territories and mainland France. • Thus, while a few protected marine areas had been created in France for several decades (the Port-Cros National Park in 1963 was the first protected area at sea), the recent period since 2007 has seen an acceleration of this process alongside an expansion of the debate on the role of marine protected areas. This expansion corresponds essentially to the realization that marine protected areas, beyond protecting remarkable sites, can contribute to the good health of ecosystems at a more general level.

• At the international scale, the legal division and sovereignty of maritime spaces are defined and regulated by the Montego Bay Convention (1982). France exercises jurisdiction over marine spaces whose area ranks it second in the world (or just over 10 million km² and 3% of the total ocean surface). • Waters under French jurisdiction concern the French exclusive economic zone and French waters of the continental shelf. The coastline is defined as the highest astronomical tide line with a coefficient of 120 under normal weather conditions. Starting from the coast, the State's sovereign zones can extend to the limit of the legal continental shelf. • Overseas waters represent approximately 97% of our marine spaces. Alone, those of French Polynesia represent nearly 47% of the total. French waters are largely situated above abyssal depths, with 86% of their surface extending above depths between 2,000 and 6,000 meters. Very coastal zones, between 0 and 50 meters in depth, represent only approximately 1.3% of the total area. • Authors: Service de la donnée et des études statistiques (SDES) and Agence française pour la biodiversité (AFB).