How to maintain and/or restore a pond in a tropical context*?
*Environment regularly subject to periods of intense drought and biological invasions
REMA : “ Restoration and Maintenance of the Seas of the Antilles ”
The new flagship project of the PRZHT
Since its creation in 2012, the Tropical Wetlands Relay Center (PRZHT) has been working to raise awareness among overseas stakeholders about wetland preservation. While efforts were initially focused on the iconic mangrove ecosystem, the PRZHT is now focusing on highlighting wetlands wrongly considered to be of lesser importance, such as marshes, wet meadows, or, in this specific case, ponds.
In fact, more than 3,500 ponds have been counted in Guadeloupe (including 600 in Marie-Galante) and around 1,100 in Martinique.
Since the release of our virtual tours of the ponds of the Antilles in 2019, these environments have been the subject of growing interest among conservationists and numerous initiatives have thus emerged.
THE REMA PROJECT
This 26-month project aims to produce a technical guide based on around ten ponds to be restored in the territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin.
These ponds will be the subject of a one-year experimental phase which will result in restoration and adapted maintenance recommendations which will be transcribed in the REMA guide.
Each site was selected based on various criteria (type, operation, needs, actions to prioritize, etc.). The pond must be/have:
- Representative of the ponds of the Antilles,
- Preferably on public land (in order to ensure the collective interest),
- Potential and challenges to be rehabilitated,
- Ecosystem services to be enhanced or restored (flood regulation, water resources, fauna/flora habitats, landscape/recreational/educational interest, etc.),
- A specific and recurring problem (filling, invasions of Invasive Exotic Species, pollution, trampling of cattle, drying out, etc.).
What techniques should you use? How often? What equipment should you invest in?
With REMA, the Tropical Wetlands Relay Center aims to provide environmental stakeholders with a tool that will provide concrete answers to technical questions that arise in terms of development, maintenance, monitoring and restoration.
To carry out this project, the PRZHT teamed up with Mélanie HERTEMAN, an ecologist and specialist in tropical wetlands, Matthieu NORDEN, a coastal environment consultant, and Florent TAUREAU, a specialist in mapping tropical ecosystems.
“REMA” actions for selected project leaders:
- Tailored technical support and field expertise
- Specific recommendations meeting restoration needs according to different criteria
- A cartographic analysis: spatial context of each experimental site
- The transcription of the case study in the guide which will be published at the end of the project.
Training based on the REMA technical guide will be the highlight of this project, with the aim of being a long-term project, responding to any desire to conserve these "mini-wetlands" in tropical environments.
If you need specific information, you can contact Matthieu NORDEN ( REMA Project Manager ) at the following address: m.norden.pro@gmail.com
This project is funded by the French Office for Biodiversity, the Martinique Water Office, the Guadeloupe Water Office and the French Committee of the IUCN.
To learn more about the ecological and heritage interest of ponds in the Antilles:
