Large-scale marine protected areas: a new conservation tool for the oceans?

Abstract

Since the 2010s, large-scale marine protected areas (LSMPA) have thrived in the Pacific Ocean and have profoundly transformed the geography of the Region. More than anywhere else in the world, in the Pacific region they have turned Small Island Developing States into Large Ocean Island States and generated a significant political shift on the regional and international level. This research note presents a new exploration of the ongoing political construction of the ocean. An anthropological approach is used to investigate the governance processes that involve many actors and shape marine environmental policies of two French overseas territories, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. Based on fieldwork focused on the Parc naturel de la mer de Corail and the Tai Nui Atea large management area between 2014 and 2016, this research interrogates socio-environmental dynamics and governance issues in the francophone Pacific and offers an overview of current structural changes that occur in Oceania.

Keywords

• marine protected areas
• governance
• New Caledonia
• French Polynesia
• Oceania