Newsletter 21 - 2014

The Nature Reserve’s project to create a Ma-rine Biodiversity Institute holds a privileged position in the European Operational Pro-gram 2014-2020, and I am very pleased about it. Besides the fact that it will further enhance the environmental protection that is already in place, this new center is an important asset for the creation of new career paths and the promotion of ecotourism on the French side of the island. My team, partners and I have wor-ked together with the Reserve on defining this project in order to dispose of a truly effective tool. The Nature Reserve is doing an excellent job, and the State regularly turns to it for its expertise in environmental matters. Such will be the case for the protection of the Simpson Bay Lagoon, a project of cooperation between the two sides of the island that will also bene-fit from European funding. Let’s carry on the good work. Saint-Martin’s wealth is the qua-lity of its natural environment which gains in value every day, and we should all take it upon ourselves to improve it.

Philippe Chopin, Delegated Prefet of the State Representative for the Collectivités of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin