A first contact with the french Conservatoire du Littoral  which since 1975 has done exceptional work to preserve the coasts of the French territory. http://www.conservatoire-du-littoral.fr/

Many of our proposals for the coastal zone of Mauritius have been taken up by the Ministry of Lands in the draft of the new plan (for the next 20 years) of land use planning in Mauritius, the National Development Strategy (NDS), which will be finalized in the coming months. One of our flagship proposals is the creation of a coastal geopark on an entire section of the South – South East coast, from La Cambuse to Gris-Gris, still unbuilt, by also integrating plots from the Bel Ombre region. But of course, to manage this type of space, you need a whole lot of know-how, a well-organized management and it will also be necessary to initiate discussions with various actors of the region. It will be necessary to train, educate, rehabilitate, resolve certain conflicts and we believe that the french Conservatoire du Littoral could be an ideal partner in this sense, being able to give us the benefit of their experience and expertise in order to make this great project a reality. The establishment of a coastal geopark on the South – South East coast is indeed described in the draft NDS in section 8 entitled “The Natural Environment”.

In this context, we had the honor and the pleasure of having connected the French Coastal Conservatory (present in Réunion), with the Ministry of Housing and Land Use Planning, the Ministry of Environment, as well as the National Parks and Conservation Service. We thank them for attending this first meeting, which we hope will be the starting point for a long-term partnership.

We are very grateful to Reunion Island’s Antenna Office in Mauritius for Regional Cooperation and International Relations, which was able to obtain the support of the Conservatoire du Littoral. The objective of this first meeting was to present the Conservatoire du Littoral and also to initiate discussions with the Mauritian authorities.
For several years now, the Mauritian coast has witnessed numerous conflicts, numerous degradations, and more than ever we must be able to work to find lasting solutions in order to prepare for the future of the coast. We could draw inspiration from the work that the Conservatoire in La Reunion does on 18 unique coastal sites.

We hope to promote this dialogue with other actors and contribute to progressively build our country’s capacities for a better management of our coast and the welfare of its inhabitants.