Iroise, the jewel of France's west coast
The Iroise聽Marine Nature Park, the first marine protected area聽in France, achieved聽香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Green List status in 2014. It was created in 2007 off the coast of Finist猫re between the islands of Ushant, Mol猫ne and Sein and the coasts of Crozon headland and Douarnenez, and protection for聽350,000 hectares of聽ocean.
The Iroise marine park, located at the most western point of France, aims to improve understanding of the marine environment, to protect it (the seabed, bird and marine mammal species, but also cultural heritage) and to sustainably develop sea-dependent activities (island maritime activities, sustainable fisheries and seaweed farming).
The 'marine nature park' status was established in April 2006, as many people considered that the classic conservation approach based on legal incentives and reliant mostly on the state鈥檚 involvement weren鈥檛聽enough to protect this聽splendid marine area. The creation of the park was a long process involving all the local stakeholders, but today the park is the pride of the locals living both on the Finist猫re coast and further inland.
Protection inspires pride
In addition to being listed as a natural marine park, it is a marine protected area under the (OSPAR) and a large part of its perimeter is listed under the European Habitats and Birds directives () and as a .
Enhancing local communities' involvement
The Iroise Marine Nature Park is not a mere technocratic framework: it relies on strong, long-term involvement of elected representatives in the Iroise, government departments, marine professionals, associations, regular and occasional users and even simple observers, all of whom contribute to its operation. The management council of the Iroise marine park is responsible for its governance, in cooperation with government departments. Its members are thus in a position to carry out marine environment development and conservation actions as part of an integrated approach since both the challenges and solutions are considered jointly for better understanding and greater efficiency. All the members of the management council play a part in the decision process so as to continue to protect and develop a maritime territory that they now manage.
The park management聽offers numerous activities year-round for tourists and locals to enjoy, including聽educational programmes and activities for all ages, boat trips, fishing activities and sports.聽Responding聽to a growing demand for social, cultural, and leisure activities,聽the聽local economy聽benefits from Iroise's protection while enhancing its governance effectiveness and management.
The above article was written by the Iroise marine nature park for the聽'Inspiring Places' series in the聽Protecting the聽Planet newsletter. You can visit the Iroise聽, view the park information on the , and read about the 聽and the聽.