To what degree are French waters genuinely protected? In an interview with EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de l’Environnement, conducted after the fourth National Marine Protected Areas Congress (23-24 October), Élodie Martinie-Cousty of the federation France Nature Environnement (FNE) explained the situation.
Élodie Martinie-Cousty pilots the Oceans network at France Nature Environnement (FNE), the French federation of associations for the protection of nature and the environment.
22.3% of French waters are classified as marine-protected areas, but you estimate that only 1.5% are actually classified as such. Can you explain this discrepancy?
It must be understood that the levels of protection are very different depending on the categories, of which there are 17 in France. At the highest level, we have the national nature reserve, which applies to the French Southern Lands, south of the Indian Ocean.
But we also have national parks such as the Calanques, marine nature parks such as the Iroise Sea, biotope protection areas, and even Natura 2000 areas that protect habitats and terrestrial or marine species at the European level.
However, activities that are potentially dangerous for flora and fauna are permitted in all these areas, including a portion of the nature reserves. This is why only 1.5% of France’s waters are truly protected. However, their condition is worrying.
About 75% of the protected marine and coastal habitats are in very poor condition according to the situational analysis carried out by France in 2019 for the European Union under the Marine Environment Strategy Framework Directive.
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