Nature Reserves From France Met In Martinique

300 people participated in the annual conference for French Nature Reserves (RNF) that was held on May 29-June 2 in Schoelcher, Martinique. Nicolas Maslach, director of the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin was present, accompanied by Julien Chalifour, scientific director, and Franck Roncuzzi, head of the Nature Police. This large assembly of nature reserves in France is the time for the annual election of the board and the creation of various commissions. Franck Roncuzzi will participate on the police commission and Julien Chalifour on the scientific commission. Maslach will join them both on the overseas commission, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. The conference also provided the occasion for the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin to exchange ideas with their colleagues from France, discuss common problems, as well as projects underway or on the drawing board, where the issues go beyond the local level.
The overseas commission debated the overall role of its jurisdiction and was particularly interested in the compensatory measures a reserve could exact against a developer that causes negative environmental impact. The commission also discussed the type of compensation possible and how to best use such monies for the general benefit of natural sites. A final atelier included all of the reserves in order to examine their management status: until recently, 60% were association-run. Today that figure is just 40%.