The Isle of Pines Beaches: soft white sand and crystal clear lagoon water. Enjoy the mirror bright beauty of New Caledonia seascapes. Enjoy a virtual reality dive on New Caledonia reefs with our panoramic underwater images.
The New Caledonia has special lagoon island sea bird sanctuaries. Humpback Whales visit the New Caledonia lagoon in the winter to give birth to their young. There are catamaran and air links to the offshore islands. The reefs have been well studied in the field since They have recently been mapped and a bathymetric program has revealed great variability in the depth of outer reef slopes.
Other studies have covered mangroves, seagrasses, algae, the benthos, molluscs, marine mammals, and turtles, fish, and the many types of coral. Future studies will cover geomorphology, benthic invertebrates, mangroves, sea grasses, algae, fish and rare and threatened species. WWF multidisciplinary programs have worked since with local partners on a sclerophyllous forest conservation program, and also on the less endangered wet forests.
Authority in the islands derives from the French government, intermediated by the government of the Territory working through the elected Congress, the Economic-Social Council, the Senate of the Kanak people, the provincial assemblies of the three provinces, and local communes which in the countryside are largely Kanak.
Mechanisms of agreement between the differing interests to ensure participatory management over land uses such as mining, new development and preservation, are complicated.
After recent very public troubles, measures to control the impacts of industrial scale mining are essential. In the past, each clan preserved its lands by customary right in an Aire de conservation et co-gestion and these still have weight: certain plants, animals and places are protected by their sacred or totemic status. Most of the nominated marine sites are governed by customary law based on intimate local ecological knowledge, and rural communes police their own coasts out to m from the shore.
Beyond that, natural resources in the public domain are governed by provincial authorities to 12 nautical miles from shore. Recently, France has made the conservation needs of the island a priority and international NGOs have become involved. At present only 2. Only half of the existing parks have any restrictions on mining within their boundaries, and the remaining ones are open to mining activities CI, But where not affected by mining, the state of conservation of the nominated sites is good due to the low pressure of population, tourism and fishing.
All land above sea level except for reefs, cays and banks is buffer zone only. The proposed sites on the mainland are less pristine than the marine sites though the reefs have been affected by bleaching, if less badly than elsewhere worldwide.
A management action plan for has been developed, which recognises that marine protected areas are inherently multi-use, by WWF, CRISP, local officials, politicians, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and communal representatives working together. Plans already exist at different levels and combinations of authorities to deal with pollution, development and tourism.
In new regulations were also drafted to increase control over the opening and closing of mines to lessen the destructive impacts of erosion and toxic drainage, and to encourage revegetation of degraded sites and the protection of rare flora and fauna. Monitoring is to be set up at stations to measure the health, diversity and cover of the reefs, seagrass and mangrove density and the abundance of fish; also the condition of the lagoons near the Goro mine and near Koumac in the north.
Nickel and gold have long been mined on the island and many of the more than sites continue to release sediments into the sea. Recent high world demand for nickel, especially from China, has prompted the government to grant tax breaks to encourage industrial-scale mining by foreign companies. The government has relied on the mining companies to ensure environmental protection. Landslides have caused some of the worst erosion in the Pacific, sediments and toxic metals such as manganese have polluted water supplies, destroyed streams and been discharged into the lagoon offshore CI, This incursion onto native land and waters has created opposition from the local people, first put down in the s.
An earlier preservationist was assassinated and another was forced out of work, but since when the government granted another adjoining mining concession at Prony, Kanaks have campaigned to protect the environment by gaining it World Heritage status.
Their Rheebu Nuu organisation blockaded the Goro mine in The leaders were arrested and cooperation with the protesters was ignored. However a second world-class deposit of high grade ore at Komambo in the northwest is soon to be developed by the Swiss XStrata Nickel company. The campaign for World Heritage designation therefore has parallels with the situation in the Galapagos Islands, with a similar amount at stake on both sides.
Other threats are fire, hunting, and introduced livestock, also the Timor deer Cervus timorensis, a carnivorous snail Euglandina rosea , and the neotropical ant Weissmannia auropunctata, a dangerous predator on small wildlife. There are nearly alien plant species, more than alien invertebrates, and some 35 alien vertebrates established on the islands, out-competing and replacing much of the original vegetation and faunal species.
Another development has been the creation of large shrimp farms in the lagoons. The conflicts caused by these pressures and by Kanak claims for protection of the land, have created difficulties for the establishment of effective protective measures. As an officially developed country, New Caledonia does not qualify for international conservation funding and governmental inaction and lack of funds have limited effective protection in the past.
This nominated site parallels the existing Great Barrier Reef, also in the southwest Pacific, in many ways. In addition, the mainland, though only nominated as the buffer zone, has an outstanding and endangered flora, based on a rare geological substrate, threatened by development and coastal mining. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
The U. Inside Hurricanes. Skip to main content. Write a review. I visited this WHS in December In Noumea, on the Grand Terre, I rented a car to cover at least 3 locations out of the 4 which can be explored directly from the main island.
The Grand Terre is km in length with mountain ranges and 5 peaks which are over m, so driving from one place to the next requires a considerable amount of time but is quite easy especially from Noumea to La Foa or to Bourail. The highlight on the Grand Terre were the crystal clear lagoons around the pretty mangrove islands which are inhabited by dugongs. Several action plans are in place to preserve these wonderful lagoons which are easily accessible by driving to the Plage de Ouano and following the Sentier des Trois Baies.
From Noumea, taxis and public transport are not a reliable means of transport so factor this when visiting and allow enough time before departure even if most hotels will tell you not to worry.
We were going to miss internal flights twice because taxis did not turn up! The different hues of blues is second only to the Great Barrier Reef but the variety of colourful fish and sea life dugongs, starfish, giant manta rays, different species of rays, sea kraits, seahorses, eels, sharks, whales, etc.
The absolute highlights of our trip to New Caledonia were the Piscine Naturelle at Oro and the coral rock islands of Baie d'Upi by pirogue outrigger from St Joseph Bay the coral islands are quite similar to the rock islands of Aldabra, Seychelles or those of Palau but these are enclosed in a turquoise bay.
Apart from marine species, New Caledonia is quite famous for its 23 endemic bird species of which I proudly managed to spot 17 without any birdwatching guide. Again on the atoll of Ouvea, I rented a car which proved to be a wise move in terms of mobility to spot birdlife but also to drive along the single loop possible on this small island.
All in all we spent around 10 days to cover these locations even though we spent most of our time in the Grand Lagon Sud area. The only touristy areas still relatively small numbers were the day trips to Duck Island or to the Amedie lighthouse. Other than that, New Caledonia really is a paradise island destination which might become an island nation soon by referendum. New Zealand - Nov -. Seeing the Lagoons and Reefs around New Caledonia involved viewing from the air, from vantage points on land, from the comfort of a cruising vessel and up close beneath the waves.
The island of Ouvea in the Loyalty Group was best viewed from the air on the flight from Noumea.
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