# Geographies of New Caledonia-Kanaky - Environments, Politics and Cultures

Matthias Kowasch, Simon Batterbury

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Matthias Kowasch, Simon Batterbury. Geographies of New Caledonia-Kanaky - Environments, Politics and Cultures. Springer International Publishing, 2024, 10.1007/978-3-031-49140-5. hal-05032449

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Matthias Kowasch
Simon P. J. Batterbury *Editors*

Geographies
of New Caledonia-
Kanaky

Environments, Politics and Cultures

OPEN ACCESS

Springer
Matthias Kowasch • Simon P. J. Batterbury
Editors

Geographies of New
Caledonia-Kanaky

Environments, Politics and Cultures

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

Springer
Editors

Matthias Kowasch
University College of Teacher Education Styria
Graz, Austria

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Hamar, Norway

Simon P. J. Batterbury
University of Melbourne
Parkville, VIC, Australia

Lancaster University
Lancaster, UK

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

ISBN 978-3-031-49139-9 ISBN 978-3-031-49140-5 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49140-5

Publication of this work was supported by Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN University) and the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. This book is an open access publication.

**Open Access** This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Acknowledgements

This book is the result of an idea dating back to 2016 to [re]introduce the geographies of New Caledonia's environments, institutions and cultures to an English-speaking audience. Unlike its neighbours in the Anglophone Pacific, most academic work and most scholarly exchange about New Caledonia-Kanaky happens in French, which is a practical, although unfortunate, barrier to wider communication and understanding across the Pacific and beyond. While we acknowledge the difficult colonial legacies of European languages in Oceania, we hope the volume will offer greater exposure for the chapter authors, the majority of whom are francophone, to English speakers.

We thank the numerous chapter authors, proofreaders and manuscript reviewers for their inputs, recommendations and their forbearance, as we developed this manuscript over several years and in two languages. We acknowledge the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN) in Norway and the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne for their contributions to the Open Access book processing charges. Particular thanks are due to the reviewers whose work is often not visible: Christopher Ballard (Australian National University), Jürgen Böhmer (University of Hanover, Germany), Annette Breckwoldt (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research Bremen, Germany), John Burton (Australian National University), Arthur Dahl (International Environment Forum, Switzerland), Jeana Kriewaldt (University of Melbourne, Australia), Martha Macintyre (University of Melbourne), Nic Maclellan (independent journalist and researcher, Australia), Charlotte Monteil (University of Montpellier 3, France), Adrian Muckle (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), Julia Loginova (University of Queensland, Australia), Eric P. Perramond (Colorado College, USA), Mathieu Rousselin (Independent researcher, France/Germany), Gertrude Saxinger (University of Vienna, Austria), Dominik Schieder (University of Siegen, Germany) and Serge Tcherkezoff (CREDO Marseille, France). The reviews contributed to improve the chapters, and the reviewers shared enriching advice and recommendations. *Oléti!*

Proofreading and translation from French into English were sometimes huge challenges. Therefore, we are very thankful to Colin Filer, Angélique Stastny and Martha Macintyre for their support and help.

We are very grateful to all people in New Caledonia-Kanaky and to all knowledge holders with various backgrounds and ethnic origins, who shared their perspectives, histories and visions of the country.

We would also like to express our thanks to Doris Bleier from Springer, who supported us with advice and pushed our book project forward.

Simon would like to thank Matthias Kowasch for his friendship and his introduction to the cultures and environments of Northern Grande Terre, and research funding from CNRT, the Ambassade de France en Australie and the University of Melbourne. The hospitality shown to me by numerous people across the archipelago over 20 years, initially as a complete outsider, has nourished long-term friendships and collaborations.

Matthias is deeply thankful to Simon Batterbury for his trusting cooperation, humour and appreciative friendship. Without Simon's constant translation and proofreading, the book would not be finished yet. A special thanks goes to "papa" Antoine Cano Poady in the community of Baco, to Chanel Ouetcho in the community of Touaourou, to Aizik Adjounyope on
Ouvéa island and to Eddie Wayuone Wadrawane in Nouméa, who always welcomed me as a family member and friend – they have strongly contributed to my connection to the islands, in particular to Xalafue in Baco. Thanks also to Jean-Brice Herrenschmidt, to Albert Sio and to pastor Halo Nyikeine who first introduced me to the clans in the North Province. And to my beloved parents who unfortunately haven't seen this book coming out.

Finally, *merci beaucoup* and thanks so much to all our friends and families who encouraged us in our work to bring this long-term project to a fruitful conclusion.

Simon P. J. Batterbury

Matthias Kowasch
# Contents

1 **Introduction: Geographical Understanding and “Listening”**
**in New Caledonia-Kanaky** .................................................................... 1
Simon P. J. Batterbury and Matthias Kowasch

## Part I Environmental Protection and Biodiversity

2 **Which Environmental Policies for New Caledonia?** .................................... 13
Estienne Rodary

3 **What Makes New Caledonia’s Flora So Outstanding?**.................................... 21
Sandrine Isnard and Tanguy Jaffré

4 **Marine Biodiversity in New Caledonia and Contemporary**
**Conservation Challenges** .................................................................... 33
Dominique Pelletier

## Part II Fisheries and Agriculture

5 **Small-Scale Fisheries in New Caledonia: Towards a Fishers’ Perspective** ...... 47
Catherine Sabinot, Séverine Bouard, Camille Fossier, Julie Mallet,
and Gilbert David

6 **“Fortunately, I Have My Field”: Changes and Permanencies**
**in Kanak Family Farming** .................................................................... 61
Séverine Bouard, Leïla Apithy, Stéphane Guyard,
and Jean-Michel Sourisseau

## Part III Extractive Industries, Mining Development and Waste Management

7 **Waste Level Rise? Scales, Spaces and Policies of Waste in New Caledonia** .... 73
Gilles Pestaña, Romain Garcier, Laurence Rocher, and Nathalie Ortar

8 **Conflicts and Legitimacy of Environmental Organisations Facing**
**Mining Projects in New Caledonia-Kanaky** .................................................... 85
Matthias Kowasch and Julien Merlin

9 **The Decolonisation Process Without Independence in the Light**
**of Changes in the Nickel Sector in New Caledonia** .................................... 103
Christine Demmer

## Part IV Land Reform and Urban Development

10 **Land Reform, Conflict and Local Development on “Grande Terre”** ............ 119
Simon P. J. Batterbury, Matthias Kowasch, and Aurélie Arroyas
11 **Has "White Nouméa" Become More Kanak?** 133
Pierre-Christophe Pantz

Part V Cultural Heritage, Languages and Education

12 **Kanak Cultural Heritage on Colonised and Damaged Lands** 149
Antoine Cano Poady, Chanel Ouetcho, Angélique Stastny, and Matthias Kowasch

13 **What Future for Kanak Languages? Size and Geographic Distribution** 163
Isabelle Leblic

14 **Transforming Kanak Knowledge to Teach Students and Train Teachers in New Caledonia** 175
Eddie Wayuone Wadrawane

Part VI Small-Scale Politics and Gender Questions

15 **Gender, Politics and Power in New Caledonia** 195
Kerryn Baker

16 **The Emergence of an Autonomous Political Arena in Ouvéa: An Ethnography of Its Local Council** 203
Mélissa Nayral

Part VII Decolonisation and Political Independence

17 **Indigenous Rights or National Independence: Paths of Self-Determination in New Caledonia** 217
Natacha Gagné

18 **New Caledonia's Self-Determination Process** 229
Denise Fisher

19 **A Critical Reflection of the Notion of "Common Destiny" in Kanaky-New Caledonia** 253
Jean-Michel Guiart

20 **The Citizenship Dilemma in Decolonising New Caledonia** 259
Scott Robertson

21 **Conclusion: Future Reflections** 273
Simon P. J. Batterbury, Séverine Bouard, Christine Demmer, Denise Fisher, Matthias Kowasch, Isabelle Leblic, Pierre-Christophe Pantz, and Eddie Wayuone Wadrawane

Index 279
## About the Editors

**Matthias Kowasch** is Professor of Geography at the University College of Teacher Education in Graz and currently also at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences in Hamar. His research focuses on critical-emancipatory education for sustainable development (ESD), educational media, mining governance, environmental activism and Indigenous knowledge. He has spent around 4 years in New Caledonia in the frame of a PhD in geography, a postdoc on mining governance at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and a lectureship at University of New Caledonia. Matthias was welcomed by the Poady clan in the community of Baco. He is member of the French research group Chôros and editor of the OA journal *Pacific Geographies*. Email: matthias.kowasch@phst.at

University College of Teacher Education Styria, Graz, Austria

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Hamar, Norway

**Simon P. J. Batterbury** is Professor of Environmental Studies and former director of the award-winning Master of Environment at the University of Melbourne. He also supports PhD students and postdocs at the Melbourne Climate Futures Academy. He was the inaugural Chair and Professor of Political Ecology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University until 2019, and remains a Visiting Professor at the University. Simon holds a PhD in geography from Clark University. His research focuses on human-environment relations in marginal environments, and political ecology of Indigenous responses to mining in New Caledonia with several stays in the country. Simon has been co-editor of the OA *Journal of Political Ecology* since 2003. Website: http://www.simonbatterbury.net/. Email: simonpjb@unimelb.edu.au

University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

## Contributors

**Leïla Apithy** is head of the Agriculture Service at the Department of Economic Development and Environment at the North Province (New Caledonia). From 2011 to 2015, she was a research engineer at the New Caledonian Institute of Agronomy (IAC).

Department of Economic Development and Environment, North Province, Koné, New Caledonia

**Aurélie Arroyas** is a geographer and has been an executive agent at the Rural Development and Land Management Agency (Agence de développement rural et aménagement foncier, ADRAF) since 2002. For the past 20 years, she has been assisting custodians of customary lands with their housing and development projects. Email: aurelie.arroyas@adraf.nc

Rural Development and Land Management Agency, Noumea, New Caledonia
**Kerryn Baker** is a fellow with the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. She researches political participation, electoral politics and electoral reform issues in the Pacific Islands, with a particular focus on women's representation and leadership.
Email: [kerryn.baker@anu.edu.au](mailto:kerryn.baker@anu.edu.au)

Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

**Séverine Bouard** is a geographer and specialist on rural livelihoods, development studies and governance in rural development policies. Since 2005, she has addressed issues related to Kanak livelihoods and evolution of development policies in New Caledonia-Kanaky. Her recent research activities mainly focus on building methodologies and analysis on Kanak indigenous livelihoods. Furthermore, she works on sustainable development, mining activities and natural resource management in New Caledonia-Kanaky. Email: [severine.bouard@iac.nc](mailto:severine.bouard@iac.nc) New Caledonian Institute of Agronomy, Noumea, New Caledonia

**Gilbert David** is a marine and island geographer and currently director of research at IRD in Montpellier (France). He has extensive working experience on vulnerability and viability of island countries and territories, including the Caribbean (Haiti, Martinique), Melanesia (New Caledonia-Kanaky, Vanuatu) and the Western Indian Ocean (Comoros, Madagascar, Reunion). Email: [gilbert.david@ird.fr](mailto:gilbert.david@ird.fr)

UMR ESPACE-DEV, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France

**Christine Demmer** is an anthropologist at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). She works at the Norbert Elias Center in Marseille. Her research focuses on how Kanak nationalism influences the decolonization process in New Caledonia. More specifically, she studies the way in which New Caledonian society, which is multiethnic, is reconfigured between taking into account and overcoming ethnicity. She approaches this question by focusing on mining claims on the one hand, and on institutional identity politics on the other.
Email: [christine.demmer@univ-amu.fr](mailto:christine.demmer@univ-amu.fr)

French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Centre Norbert Elias, Marseille, France

**Denise Fisher** is a visiting fellow at the Australian National University (ANU) Centre for European Studies. A former senior Australian diplomat, she has served as Consul General in New Caledonia covering the French Pacific, and High Commissioner in Zimbabwe, also accredited to Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Angola. She has had postings in Yangon, Nairobi, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Washington, DC. Her book *France in the South Pacific: Power and Politics* was published in 2013, and she has written extensively on New Caledonia's independence referendum. Email: [denise.fisher@anu.edu.au](mailto:denise.fisher@anu.edu.au)

Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

**Camille Fossier** is an anthropologist and cartographer, and she holds two Master's degrees: *Sciences des Territoires CARTHAGEO* (Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris 1 University) and *Territoires, Espaces, Sociétés* (EHESS, Paris). She has been on contract at IRD to contribute to various research projects on fisheries and on marine species management within the research unit UMR Espace-DEV.

UMR ESPACE-DEV, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France
**Natacha Gagné** is a full professor in the Department of Anthropology at Laval University, Canada. Her research focuses on the processes of decolonization and redefinition of sovereignty, coexistence in pluralistic states and identity politics in Oceania. Her publications include *Being Māori in the City: Indigenous Everyday Life in Auckland* (University of Toronto Press, 2013) and *À la reconquête de la souveraineté : mouvements autochtones en Amérique latine et en Océanie* (Presses de l'Université Laval and Hermann, 2020).
Email: natacha.gagne@ant.ulaval.ca
Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada

**Romain Garcier** is a geographer working on social metabolism (how societies use materials, energy and generate waste and pollution). In recent years, he has mainly been working in the regulation of general waste and on nuclear issues (e.g. nuclear decommissioning).
Email: romain.garcier@ens-lyon.fr
ENS Lyon, Lyon, France

**Jean-Michel Guiart** is an independent writer currently travelling in South and South-East Asia. He is of Kanak-Tahitian-Chinese-Martiniquais origin and grew up in Nouméa.
Email: guiartjeanmichel@gmail.com
Independent Writer, Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Stéphane Guyard** is a sociologist and specialist on rural sociology and sustainable agriculture in France and in New Caledonia. He teaches sociology and coordinates training programs for engineers involved in apprenticeship. Email: Stephane.Guyard@univ-nantes.fr
Institut Universitaire de Technologie de la Roche-Sur-Yon, Nantes Université, Nantes, France

**Sandrine Isnard** is a researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). She has worked in several tropical regions before devoting a large part of her research to the flora of New Caledonia. She is interested in the diversity of forms and functions in plants. Email: sandrine.isnard@ird.fr
UMR AMAP, IRD, Herbier de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Tanguy Jaffré** is an emeritus director of research at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). He holds a PhD in plant ecology and a habilitation to supervise research. His work has focused mainly on the vegetation of New Caledonia in relation to environmental conditions. He also participated in the study of the evolution of slash-and-burn fallows in Ivory Coast. Email: tanguy.jaffre@ird.fr
UMR AMAP, University of Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier, France

**Isabelle Leblic** is an anthropologist and research director at CNRS-Lacito in Villejuif (France). She is a specialist in Oceania and more particularly in New Caledonia, and follows its political evolution from the point of view of Kanak claims. From January 2004 to June 2022, she was editor-in-chief of the *Journal de la Société des Océanistes*. Email: isabelle.leblic@cnrs.fr
Lacito, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, France
**Julie Mallet** holds a Master's degree from the Strasbourg Business School in France and MPhil from Open University in Heerlen, Netherlands, and now is currently pursuing a PhD at Kingston business school in the UK. Her research combines the theory of capitals and Indigenous entrepreneurship literature to explore the development of Indigenous strategies in fishing activity in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia. Email: k1552318@kingston.ac.uk
Kingston University, Kingston, UK

**Julien Merlin** is a researcher in STS (science and technology studies) and anthropology. He is particularly interested in research activities related to mining exploration, financial risk and energy transition. Julien holds a PhD from Mines Paris (France) on mining, indigeneity and environmental impacts in New Caledonia. Email: julien.merlin@outlook.com
UMR PACTE, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Grenoble, France

**Mélissa Nayral** has taught anthropology at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès since 2017. She is an associate member of the research units LISST-CAS (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Sciences Sociétés et Territoires-Centre d'Anthropologie Sociale) in Toulouse and CREDO (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie) in Marseille. Her previous research focuses on political practices in New Caledonia, in the particular context of negotiated decolonisation. Mélissa currently works in the emerging field of childhood anthropology both in metropolitan France and in New Caledonia. Email: melissa.nayral@gmail.com
University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

**Nathalie Ortar** is a senior researcher in anthropology at the ENTPE-University of Lyon. Her research mainly focuses on energy, discards, routines, dwelling and spatial mobility.
Email: Nathalie.ORTAR@entpe.fr
University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France

**Chanel Ouetcho** is a singer-songwriter of the Kaneka music band “Humaa-gué,” based in the community of Touaourou. As an Indigenous Kanak knowledge holder and singer-songwriter, he is interested in various societal issues. Email: mylaouetcho@gmail.com
Singer-songwriter of Humaa-gué, Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Pierre-Christophe Pantz** is a research associate at the LARJE research laboratory at the University of New Caledonia (UNC). He has studied geography at UNC, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and ENS Ulm (Paris), and holds a PhD in geography at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University on the geopolitics of Kanak territories. After having focused on the territorial dimension of the decolonization process during his doctoral thesis (2010–2015) and more particularly on Kanak territoriality in different forms (electoral, urban, customary), his research now deals with the electoral geography of the New Caledonian archipelago.
Email: pierrepantz@gmail.com
University of New Caledonia (UNC), Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Dominique Pelletier** works as a scientist in marine ecology and fisheries science. She developed the fisheries simulation model ISIS-Fish (isis-fish.org) and has worked on the monitoring and assessment of marine protected areas (MPA) for 20 years. STAVIRO is an unbaited underwater video technique yielding spatially and temporally replicated data, developed in 2007, which is now used for monitoring French MPAs and is being used in the Indo-Pacific, Mediterranean and Atlantic in a variety of settings. Email: Dominique.Pelletier@ifremer.fr
UMR DECOD, Ifremer, Lorient, France
**Gilles Pestaña** is a geographer in the ERALO research group at the University of New Caledonia. His research in critical geography focuses on several topics, such as rural and sustainable development policies, urban planning and migration in and between the Pacific islands. Email: gilles.pestana@unc.nc

University of New Caledonia, Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Antoine Cano Poady** is Vice-President of the clans' council at the community of Baco and president of the environmental association "Environord" (former Koniambo environmental committee). As Indigenous Kanak knowledge holder, he is a former "cultural collector" of ADCK (Agency for Kanak Cultural Development) and engaged in various social and environmental issues. Email: poady.antoine@gmail.com

Environmental Association Environord, Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Scott Robertson** holds a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. His research focuses on citizenship in New Caledonia. Email: bobbo28189@gmail.com

Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, ACT, Australia

**Laurence Rocher** is an associate professor in urbanism at the University of Lyon. She conducts research on local governance of waste, climate and energy. Email: laurence.rocher@univ-lyon2.fr

University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France

**Estienne Rodary** is a senior researcher at IRD. His research interests focus on biodiversity conservation policies, protected areas, transnational governance, political ecology and the politics of connectivity, in Africa, the Pacific and at the global level. He works currently on marine conservation policies in the new rush for oceanic resources. Email: estienne.rodary@ird.fr

UMR SENS, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France

**Catherine Sabinot** is researcher in environmental anthropology and ethnoecology at the research unit UMR Espace-DEV at IRD in Nouméa. Adopting an anthropological and comparative approach, she studies the evolution of society-environment interactions on islands and in coastal places – in Pacific Islands (Vanuatu, New Caledonia, French Polynesia), but also in Indian Ocean Islands (Madagascar, Mayotte), in West Atlantic Islands and Coasts (e.g. Haiti, Mexico, etc.) and in Africa (e.g. Gabon, Senegal, etc.). She specializes on the evolution and knowledge sharing of fisheries and fisher groups. Email: catherine.sabinot@ird.fr

French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), UMR ESPACE-DEV (IRD, UM, UR, UA, UG, UNC), Nouméa, New Caledonia

**Jean-Michel Sourisseau** is an economist at Cirad (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, France) and is deputy director of the joint research unit "Actors, Resources and Territories for Development" (ART-Dev). Since 2005, he has worked on New Caledonia. Multifunctionality of agriculture and diversity of family farming are recurring themes he undertakes. Email: jean-michel.sourisseau@cirad.fr

French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad), Montpellier, France
**Angélique Stastny** is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on settler colonial contexts, decolonization, education, Indigenous politics and activism, and explores processes of colonisation, decolonisation and sovereignty negotiation in the Pacific (in particular Australia, Kanaky-New Caledonia, Ma'ohi Nui-French Polynesia and Aotearoa). Email: angelique.stastny@gmail.com

University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

**Eddie Wayuone Wadrawane** is a lecturer at the University of New Caledonia (UNC) and a member of the research group TROCA (Oceanian trajectories). He is currently president of the Scientific and Pedagogical Orientation Council (COSP) of the teacher training school at UNC. Eddie specializes in educational sciences and Indigenous knowledge. Formerly, he was director of the Department of Education, Training, Professional Integration and Employment (DEFIP) of the Loyalty Islands Province. Email: wayuone-eddie.wadrawane@unc.nc

University of New Caledonia (UNC), Nouméa, New Caledonia
Acronyms

ADCK Agence de Développement de la Culture Kanak [Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture]

ADEME Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (today Agence de la Transition Écologique) [Agency for Environment and Energy Management, today the Ecological Transition Agency]

ADRAF Agence de développement rural et d'aménagement foncier [Agency for Rural Development and Regional Planning]

AEC Avenir en Confiance [Future with Confidence]

AICLF Association of French Caledonian and Loyaltian Indigenous People

ALK Académie des Langues Kanak [Academy of Kanak Languages]

APM Autorisation Personnelle Minière [Personal Mining Authorisation]

CCCE Comité Consultatif Coutumier Environnemental [Environmental Customary Consultative Committee]

CCEM Committee on Foreign Trade in Mining

CCI Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Nouvelle-Calédonie [New Caledonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry]

CCT Centre Culturel Tjibaou [Tjibaou Cultural Centre]

CE Calédonie Ensemble [Caledonia Together]

CEK Comité Environment Koniambo [Koniambo Environment Committee]

CI Conservation International

CICS Committee for Information, Consultation and Environmental Monitoring

CPEL Comité paritaire d'emploi local [Parity Committee of local employment]

CSNP Coral Sea Natural Park

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

DDEE-PN Direction du Développement Economique et de l'Environnement de la Province Nord [Department of Economic Development and Environment of the North Province]

EEZ Economic Exclusive Zone

EFCK Fundamentals elements of Kanak culture

EPK Local Kanak Schools

FCCI Fédération des Comités de Coordination des Indépendantistes [Federation of Independentist Coordination Committees]

FCPE Fonds Commun de Placement d'Entreprise [Company Mutual Fond]

FI Front Indépendantiste [Independence Front]

FIDES Investment Fund for Overseas Economic and Social Development

FLNKS Front de Libération National Kanak et Socialiste [Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front]

FNSC Fédération pour une Nouvelle Société Calédonienne [Federation for a New Caledonian Society]
<table>
  <tr>
    <td>FPRESC</td>
    <td>Fonds de Prévention des Risques Environnementaux et Socioculturels [Environmental and Sociocultural Risk Prevention Fond]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>GDPL</td>
    <td>Groupement de droit particulier local [legal entity with customary civil status]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>GFKEL</td>
    <td>Group of Kanak and Exploited Women in Struggle</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ICAN</td>
    <td>Indigenous Customary Negotiating Body</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ICMM</td>
    <td>International Council for Mining and Metals</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>INSEE</td>
    <td>Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques [National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of New Caledonia]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>IRD</td>
    <td>Institut de Recherche pour le Développement [French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ISEE</td>
    <td>Institut de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques [Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of New Caledonia]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>KNS</td>
    <td>Koniambo Nickel SAS</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LCK</td>
    <td>Kanak languages and culture</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LCOA</td>
    <td>Languages, Oceanian cultures and learning</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LCR</td>
    <td>Les Républicains calédoniens [The Caledonian Republicans]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LEG</td>
    <td>General Electoral List</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LEO</td>
    <td>L'Éveil océanien [Pacific Awakening]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LESC</td>
    <td>Special Electoral Consultation List</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LNC</td>
    <td>Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes [The Caledonian News]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MCs</td>
    <td>Multinational companies</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MPA</td>
    <td>Marine Protected Area</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MSC</td>
    <td>Melanesian Spearhead Group</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>NMC</td>
    <td>Nickel Mining Company</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PALIKA</td>
    <td>Parti de Libération Kanak [Kanak Liberation Party]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PAMCO</td>
    <td>Japanese Pacific Metals Company</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PENC</td>
    <td>New Caledonian education project</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PIF</td>
    <td>Pacific Islands Forum</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PNG</td>
    <td>Papua New Guinea</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PT</td>
    <td>Parti Travailliste [Labour Party]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>RDO</td>
    <td>Rassemblement Démocratique Océanien [Democratic Oceanic Party]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>RPCR</td>
    <td>Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République [Rally for Caledonia in the Republic]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>R-UMP</td>
    <td>Rassemblement-UMP [Rally-Union for a Popular Movement]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SEML</td>
    <td>Société d'Economie Mixte locale [Local Investment Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SLN</td>
    <td>Société Le Nickel [The Nickel Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SMT</td>
    <td>Société des Mines de la Tontouta [Tontouta Mining Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SNNC</td>
    <td>Société du Nickel de Nouvelle-Calédonie et Corée [New Caledonian and Korean Nickel Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SOFINOR</td>
    <td>Société de Financement et d'Investissement de la Province Nord [Financing and Investment Company of the Province]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SMSP</td>
    <td>Société Minière du Pacifique Sud [South Pacific Mining Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SPC</td>
    <td>The Pacific Community</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SPMSC</td>
    <td>Société de Participation Minière du Sud Calédonien [Mining Participation Company of the Caledonian South]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SPREP</td>
    <td>The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>STCPI</td>
    <td>Société Territoriale Calédonienne de Participations Industrielles [Territorial Caledonian Industrial Participation Company]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>UC</td>
    <td>Union Calédonienne [Caledonian Union]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>UICALO</td>
    <td>Union of Indigenous Caledonians Going for Freedom within Order</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ULMWP</td>
    <td>United Liberation Movement of West Papua</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table><tr><td>UNC</td><td>University of New Caledonia</td></tr><tr><td>UPM</td><td>Union Progressiste en Mélanesie [Progressist Union in Melanesia]</td></tr><tr><td>USD</td><td>US dollars</td></tr><tr><td>VKP</td><td>Voh-Koné-Pouembout</td></tr><tr><td>WEEE</td><td>Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment</td></tr><tr><td>WWF</td><td>World Wide Fund for Nature</td></tr></table>
List of Figures

<table><tr><td>Fig. 1.1</td><td>Provinces and municipalities in New Caledonia-Kanaky. (Source: https://georep.nc/. Cartography: Arroyas 2023)</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 2.1</td><td>UNESCO World Heritage Sites in New Caledonia. (Source: https://georep.nc/, cartography: Eibl 2022)</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 3.1</td><td>The three endemic families of New Caledonia. (a) Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae); (b) Phelline macrophylla (Phellinaceae); (c) Oncotheca humboldtiana (Oncothecaceae)</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 3.2</td><td>Simplified vegetation map illustrating the main vegetation types. (Modified from Jaffré et al. 2012)</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 3.3</td><td>Illustrations of New Caledonian landscapes. (a) Araucaria columnaris (“Pin colonnaire”) growing at the edge of the sea, Prony, South of Grande-Terre; (b) Tall maquis containing abundant Gymnostoma deplancheanum trees, col. de Yaté; (c) Remnant fragment of rain forest on ultramafic substrate scattered in a matrix of maquis and burned vegetation; (d) Rainforest-Savana interface, with savanna composed of Melaleuca quinquenervia (in the foreground), South of Grande-Terre (Thio). (Photo credit: A & C, Jean-Michel Boré, IRD)</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 4.1</td><td>Delineation of provinces and the exclusive economic zone of New Caledonia, located in the Southwest Pacific (17–24° latitude south, 158–172° longitude west). (Source: www.georep.nc, cartography: Kowasch 2021)</td><td>34</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 4.2</td><td>Seagrass habitat in Abore barrier reef (top left), macroalgae habitat in Merlet integral reserve (top right), sandy habitat in Bellona remote reef (bottom left) and sandy habitat with isolated coral patch in Merlet integral reserve (bottom right). (Source: Pelletier 2020)</td><td>36</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 4.3</td><td>Live coral habitat (top left), debris habitat on exposed reef flat at Astrolabe remote reef (top right), debris habitat associated with damage from recreational uses and mooring at Mbe Kouen unprotected reef (bottom left) and debris habitat dominated by boulders at the volcanic island Hunter (bottom right). (Source: Pelletier 2020)</td><td>37</td></tr><tr><td>Fig. 4.4</td><td>Examples of fish species observed in New Caledonia: Live coral seaspcape in Chesterfield remote reef (top left), large abundance of fish with jacks and a shark above a coral patch in Astrolabe remote reef (top right), sweetlips in Nouméa barrier reef MPA (bottom left) and aggregation of fish in Kouare reef pass (bottom right). (Source: STAVIRO images from AMBIO project, Ifremer)</td><td>39</td></tr></table>
<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 4.5</td>
      <td>Examples of iconic species observed in the New Caledonian lagoon: green turtle (Kouare pass) (top left), cow tail stingray (Pastinachus sephen) (Nouméa barrier reef) (top right), dugong (Signal Islet, Nouméa Lagoon) (bottom left) and giant wrasse (Kouare pass) (bottom right). (Source: STAVIRO, AMBIO project, Ifremer)</td>
      <td>39</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 4.6</td>
      <td>Snapshots of coral reef habitat in the mooring area, Lifou. Impacted zone (left) and comparable non-impacted zone (right). (Source: AMBIO project, Ifremer)</td>
      <td>41</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.1</td>
      <td>Typology of human and social science studies of fishing in New Caledonia. (Source: Authors 2022)</td>
      <td>49</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.2</td>
      <td>Province-wise summary of the number of inhabitants declaring that they practise a fishing activity for personal consumption or for sale. (Source: ISEE 2014)</td>
      <td>49</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.3</td>
      <td>Distribution of fish volume caught by groups. (Source: Agriculture survey in Kanak communities, Guyard et al. 2014)</td>
      <td>51</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.4</td>
      <td>Share of subsistence and recreational fishing in total New Caledonian production. (Sources: Dalzell and Adams 1994; Virly 2001)</td>
      <td>51</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.5</td>
      <td>Sources of supply of fishery products consumed by New Caledonian households. (Source: Quidnovi, ERPA, ASS-NC, DAVAR 2017)</td>
      <td>53</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.6</td>
      <td>Distribution of responses regarding fish mongers and buyers. Answer to the question “Who do you normally sell to?” (interviews with 78 professional fishers who received funds and subventions from the government of the North Province)</td>
      <td>54</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.7</td>
      <td>(a, b) Transport of fish caught in three North Province villages according to the type of destination. (Source: Authors)</td>
      <td>55</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 5.8</td>
      <td>The provinces' ability to monitor catches of professional and non-professional fishers. (Source: Authors)</td>
      <td>57</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 6.1</td>
      <td>Time spent in agricultural work and in other activities by an individual. (Source: Guyard et al. 2013a)</td>
      <td>66</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 6.2</td>
      <td>Destination of food system products in 2010, the prevalence of the non-market. (Source: Guyard et al. 2013a)</td>
      <td>66</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 6.3</td>
      <td>Different organisations of yams on a ridge. Source: authors</td>
      <td>68</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 6.4</td>
      <td>Yam on narrow ridges with simplified staking. (Credit: Fabert 2013)</td>
      <td>69</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 7.1</td>
      <td>Open dumping site in New Caledonia. (Credit: Garcier, October 2018)</td>
      <td>75</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 7.2</td>
      <td>Annual and cumulative mine tailings produced from 1904 to 2017 throughout New Caledonia (in tonnes, DIMENC/SMC data). (Source: Richard et al. 2018)</td>
      <td>76</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 7.3</td>
      <td>Inauguration of the Yaté civic amenity site, in 2016. (Credit: South Province 2016)</td>
      <td>79</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 8.1</td>
      <td>Extraction of nickel ores from 1875 to 2020 in wet tons. (Sources: ISEE and DIMENC, adapted by Bouard (cited in Bencivengo and Bouard 2021))</td>
      <td>90</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 8.2</td>
      <td>Major countries in worldwide nickel ores production in metric tons from 2017 to 2022. (Source: Reichl and Schatz 2023)</td>
      <td>90</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 8.3</td>
      <td>Nickel mines and smelters in New Caledonia-Kanaky in 2020. (Source: https://georep.nc/, cartography: Kowasch 2020)</td>
      <td>91</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 8.4</td>
      <td>Goro Nickel smelter. (Credit: Kowasch 2009)</td>
      <td>91</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 8.5</td>
      <td>Koniambo smelter. (Credit: Kowasch 2009)</td>
      <td>93</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 9.1</td>
      <td>Shareholding of the mining companies SMSP, SLN and Prony Resources. (Source: Burton and Levacher 2021)</td>
      <td>106</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 9.2</td>
      <td>Nickel smelters and mines in New Caledonia. (Source: https://georep.nc/, cartography: Eibl 2022)</td>
      <td>108</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.1</td>
      <td>Land distribution over time on Grande Terre. (Source: ADRAF 2019)</td>
      <td>121</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.2</td>
      <td>Land distribution on Grande Terre in 2020. (Source: ADRAF 2011, 2021)</td>
      <td>122</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.3</td>
      <td>Land distribution and conflicts in Poum municipality. (Sources: ADRAF 2012/2014, DITTT 2007, in: Kowasch et al. 2015)</td>
      <td>125</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.4</td>
      <td>Map of customary lands of Baco community (Sources: ADRAF 2021, https://georep.nc/. Cartography: Kowasch & Arroyas 2022. See also Kowasch 2012b)</td>
      <td>126</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.5</td>
      <td>(a, b) Economic projects on customary land in Baco: rental housing and shopping centre. (Credit: Kowasch 2011, 2017)</td>
      <td>126</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.6</td>
      <td>Agronomic quality of customary land in the South Province. (Source: ADRAF 2015)</td>
      <td>129</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 10.7</td>
      <td>Agronomic quality of customary land in the North Province. (Source: ADRAF 2012)</td>
      <td>129</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.1</td>
      <td>Map of the districts of the city of Nouméa. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2011)</td>
      <td>135</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.2</td>
      <td>Population trend in Nouméa (1946–1976). (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2020. The results of the censuses between 1956 and 2019 are fully detailed on the ISEE website: https://www.isee.nc/population/recensement/structure-de-la-population-et-evolutions)</td>
      <td>135</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.3</td>
      <td>Trends in the number of births and deaths recorded in Nouméa (1945–1971). (Source: Archives de l'État civil, City of Nouméa 1957 and 1971)</td>
      <td>136</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.4</td>
      <td>Map of public primary schools in Nouméa from 1945 to 1975. (Source: Archives of Nouméa city hall 1957 and 1971)</td>
      <td>137</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.5</td>
      <td>Evolution of the proportion of the population of Nouméa, Greater Nouméa, the bush and the islands between 1956 and 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2021)</td>
      <td>137</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.6</td>
      <td>Comparison of average annual variation rates of the population of Greater Nouméa between 1956 and 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2021). (The annual rate of change is the average population change per year. This is the population growth rate divided by the number of years between two censuses)</td>
      <td>138</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.7</td>
      <td>Evolution of the proportion of the Kanak population in Greater Nouméa in percent between 1956 and 2019. (Sources: INSEE 1956; INSEE-ISEE 2020)</td>
      <td>139</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.8</td>
      <td>Postcard from 1950 to 1960. Kanak women's sports event near Bir Hakeim Square, in front of the French military barracks Gally-Passebosc. (Source: Nouméa City Museum 2010)</td>
      <td>140</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.9</td>
      <td>Map of the distribution of the Kanak population in Nouméa in 2009. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2009)</td>
      <td>141</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.10</td>
      <td>Map of the distribution of “unqualified” people in Greater Nouméa in 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2014)</td>
      <td>143</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.11</td>
      <td>Map of the votes for independence in the city of Nouméa at the referendum on self-determination held on 4 October 2020. (Source: official results of the High Commission of New Caledonia 2020)</td>
      <td>144</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 11.12</td>
      <td>Percentage of Kanak people in the four city councils of Greater Nouméa. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2020; LNC 2020)</td>
      <td>145</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 12.1</td>
      <td>Map of Bako – spatial organisation and toponyms. (Source: Poady 2009 (personal communication), cartography: Kowasch and Arroyas 2023)</td>
      <td>156</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 12.2</td>
      <td>(a, b) Sculpture atelier and former school building in Bako. (Credit: Kowasch 2007, 2009)</td>
      <td>157</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 13.1</td>
      <td>Distribution of the Kanak languages by customary area, municipality and number of speakers. (Based on the ISEE 2014 Census “Les langues kanak,” completed by Leblic based on data on the geographical distribution of languages established by Rivierre 2003)</td>
      <td>165</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Figs. 13.2</td>
      <td>Teaching of Kanak languages and cultures in public secondary schools as of 14 March 2018 (the 2022 map is currently available on the following website, but is less clear). (Source: https://www.ac-noumea.nc/spip.php?article3161)</td>
      <td>171</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Figs. 13.3</td>
      <td>Teaching of Kanak languages and cultures in private secondary schools as of 14 March 2018 (the 2022 map is currently available on the following website, but is less clear). (Source: https://www.ac-noumea.nc/spip.php?article3161)</td>
      <td>172</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.1</td>
      <td>Customary and linguistic areas. (Source: https://georep.nc/, cartography: Eibl 2022)</td>
      <td>178</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.2</td>
      <td>Localization of the current Rôh school on Maré island. (Source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>181</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.3</td>
      <td>The school in Näcaao (Netchaot) as a consensual element. (Credit: Wadrawane 2022)</td>
      <td>182</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.4</td>
      <td>The six fundamental elements of Kanak culture. (Source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>183</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.5</td>
      <td>Children’s intellectual development and learning strategies. (Source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>184</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.6</td>
      <td>Socio-ethnological space of the Aengeni hnameneng ceremony. (Credit and source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>185</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.7</td>
      <td>The multiplexing of the Aengeni hnameneng. (Credit and source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>186</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.8</td>
      <td>Schematic—multiplexing—in Aengeni hnameneng custom. (Source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>187</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.9</td>
      <td>(a–c) The spiral and fractal configuration in a plural context: Geographical inventory of petroglyph sites (Païta region, South Province) (left), school children discover the petroglyph site of Necharihouen in the Ponérihouen valley (right above), example of a spiral on a slab (Tchamba community, North Province) (right below). Sources: Sand and Monin 2015 (left), Sand et al. 2008 (right above), (right below)</td>
      <td>188</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.10</td>
      <td>Training session “doing-seeing-saying” on weaving practice. (Credit and source: Wadrawane 2021)</td>
      <td>189</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fig. 14.11</td>
      <td>Yam calendar developed by second year trainee teachers. Tutorials during the first year university diploma course at the Teacher Training Institute of New Caledonia (IFMNC-UNC). (Credit and translation: Larissa Robert “L’igname, patrimoine d’avenir,” cartography: Kowasch 2023)</td>
      <td>189</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
List of Tables

<table><tbody><tr><td>Table 4.1</td><td>Number of species observed in New Caledonia per main taxa group</td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>Table 4.2</td><td>Anthropogenic pressures and their impacts on marine biodiversity in New Caledonia</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Table 5.1</td><td>Fishing in resource spaces</td><td>52</td></tr><tr><td>Table 6.1</td><td>Typology of yam-based cropping systems</td><td>67</td></tr><tr><td>Table 8.1</td><td>Criteria for assessing environmental management provisions according to O'Faircheallaigh (2018) (modified)</td><td>88</td></tr><tr><td>Table 12.1</td><td>Number of "traditional" Kanak houses as main residential home according to all types (total), per year</td><td>152</td></tr><tr><td>Table 12.2</td><td>Clans residing in the community of Bako</td><td>156</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.1</td><td>Geographic language distribution (see Rivierre 2003)</td><td>166</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.2</td><td>Changes in the number of speakers aged 14 and older per vernacular language</td><td>167</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.3</td><td>Changes in the number of speakers of a vernacular language aged 15 and older per municipality</td><td>168</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.4</td><td>Breakdown by age of Kanak population (2019)</td><td>168</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.5</td><td>Number of speakers aged 14 and older per Kanak language and place of residence</td><td>169</td></tr><tr><td>Table 13.6</td><td>Number of speakers aged 15 and older per Kanak language and place of residence</td><td>170</td></tr><tr><td>Table 18.1</td><td>Results of the three referendums on independence</td><td>243</td></tr><tr><td>Table 20.1</td><td>Electoral list figures</td><td>266</td></tr></tbody></table>
# Introduction: Geographical Understanding and “Listening” in New Caledonia-Kanaky

Simon P. J. Batterbury and Matthias Kowasch

## Abstract

This chapter is an introduction to “Geographies of New Caledonia-Kanaky”, edited by Matthias Kowasch and Simon Batterbury. The archipelago is a “biodiversity hotspot” with high species endemism, ultramafic soils and nickel resources that have been mined extensively for nearly 150 years. It remains a territory of France, and after three referendums on independence, decolonisation is an unfinished and ongoing process that still divides communities in their interpretation of history and their aspirations for the future. The 21 chapters of the book, including this introduction and the conclusion, reflect different themes and offer cultural, political, social and ecological perspectives. New Caledonia-Kanaky (NC-K) is a “window on the world” in terms of decolonisation paths, environmental and social justice, racial inequality, biodiversity and the impacts of mining. The book has seven parts: (1) biodiversity, environmental protection and policies; (2) fisheries and agriculture; (3) extractive industries, mining development and waste management; (4) land reform and urban development; (5) cultural heritage, languages and education; (6) small-scale politics and gender questions; and lastly (7) decolonisation and political independence.

## Keywords

Biodiversity hotspot · Nickel sector · Decolonisation · Indigenous Kanak scholars · Scalar geographies · Common destiny

S. P. J. Batterbury (✉)
University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
e-mail: simonpjb@unimelb.edu.au

M. Kowasch
University College of Teacher Education Styria, Graz, Austria

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Hamar, Norway
e-mail: matthias.kowasch@phst.at

## 1.1 Introduction

This book offers a geographical perspective on one of the most fascinating places on the planet – the Pacific archipelago and territory of New Caledonia-Kanaky (la Nouvelle-Calédonie in French). The archipelago is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean about 1200 km east of Australia and about 540 km south of Vanuatu. New Caledonia-Kanaky (NC-K) has a land area of 18,576 km² and is politically divided into three provinces (North, South and Loyalty Islands).

We have edited this collection for an English-speaking audience, working over several years to solicit, write and sometimes translate the chapters. The islands that make up the territory are still little known to Anglophone scholars and students. Their history of settlement is shared with neighbouring island chains, being part of the migration and diffusion of Melanesian peoples over millennia. The precise origin and itinerary of the first settlers are debated, but archaeological studies pin the arrival of humanity around 3500 mya (Sand 2010). The archipelago was the scene of European trading and sandalwood exploitation by the 1800s and was officially colonised by France in 1853, under Napoleon III. What those settlers found was a large Pacific archipelago, including the New Caledonian main island Grande Terre populated by Kanak clans and the Loyalty Islands chain inhabited by Kanak and Tavu'avua' peoples (see Fig. 1.1).

Geographical research on New Caledonia-Kanaky is dominated by discussion of three phenomena. Firstly, its extraordinary marine and terrestrial biodiversity has a high percentage of endemic species, unique ultramafic soils and extensive fringing reefs surrounded by an extensive marine territory. There were no land mammals remaining in immediate precolonial times other than a flying fox (*Pteropus vetulus*) and bats. While there is an endangered virtually flightless bird, the Cagou (*Rhynochetos jubatus*), larger ones (e.g. *Sylviornis neocaledoniae*) had already been hunted to
<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 1.1** Provinces and municipalities in New Caledonia-Kanaky. (Source: https://georep.nc/. Cartography: Arroyas 2023)</figcaption></figure>

extinction before European arrival (Kier et al. 2009, p. 9325; Jaffre et al. 1997). In recent years, documentation of this “biodiversity hotspot” with its Gondwanan relicts has turned towards concern over species loss and the effects of marine and terrestrial climatic change. There has also been greater recognition of the deleterious impacts of nickel mining, by far the most important industry and source of income on the islands.

Secondly, the economy is highly dependent on mining, impacting other sectors such as road infrastructure, hospital-ity and construction. The main island Grande Terre possesses around 25% of worldwide nickel reserves, discovered in the nineteenth century by the French engineer Jules Garnier (Batterbury et al. 2020). While the nickel sector contributes to 10–20% of local GDP (depending on the global demand on nickel), the sector contributes over 90% to the country’s export value. The Kanak independence movement wants to use the nickel sector as an instrument for economic emanci-pation and future political independence. The Koniambo mine and smelter in the Kanak-dominated North Province were developed for this purpose, thanks to a 51/49% share-holding model with a multinational mining company

(Falconbridge, which was later acquired by Xstrata, then Glencore) (Pitoiset 2015; Kowasch 2018). While this arrangement ended in 2024, the extractive industries and decolonisation are deeply connected.

Thirdly, decolonisation is an unfinished and ongoing pro-cess: contentious and divided in many ways, in terms of people's interpretation of history and aspirations for the future of the territory. New Caledonia-Kanaky is one out of 17 countries on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, defined by the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24) as “territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government” (UN 2021). Since the Matignon Accords in 1988 and the Nouméa Accord in 1998, however, the territory has for the most part embraced an ongoing process of decolonisation, the term used in the Nouméa Accord (Gagné 2015). There have been three refer-endums on political independence from France since 2018. Critical scholars (see Belhôte and Merle 2022; Kowasch et al. 2022; Trépied 2021) consider the third to have been undemocratic and wasted. A series of events in late 2021, including a fierce outbreak of the COVID virus especially in Kanak communities, led independence leaders to call for
“non-participation” by their supporters, overwhelmingly
Kanak. Despite the request for postponement, the French
government stubbornly stuck to the initial date on 12
December 2021 for the third and final referendum. In an
interview in December 2021, Jean-François Merle, the advi-
sor to former Prime Minister Michel Rocard, said that it was
never a strength of France to invent new “soft” partnerships
and collaboration with former colonies. “I own, or I do not
own”, is the underlying political principle (Kowasch et al.
2022). Currently, the territory is still “owned”, and as a
result, the politically charged and unresolved negotiations
have continued into 2024 about how, and to what extent,
decolonisation will take place. President Macron’s visit to
New Caledonia-Kanaky in July 2023 was followed by docu-
ments confirming France’s intention to remain a significant
force in the Pacific. Challenging supporters of independence,
his government now wishes to replace the Nouméa Accord,
allow French citizens that have resided in the archipelago for
only 10 years voting rights, and set back the independence
cause, potentially for generations.

The events of 2021 left New Caledonia-Kanaky in an
unusual and even unique position. The struggles of
Indigenous people in the French overseas territories in the
Pacific also differ from those of other groups, for example,
the Inuit of the Americas or Australian Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples. In contrast to Aboriginal and Māori
leaders, Pacific Islanders from the French territories came
late and only irregularly to the UN meetings about Indigenous
rights (Gagné 2015). Their struggle is little known and
understood in the Anglophone world even though they con-
stitute over 41% of the population of NC-K, along with tens
of thousands of other Pacific islanders who also reside there.
In this book, several chapters address the complex history of
stalled decolonisation of NC-K and how this relates to
aspects of everyday life including land tenure, housing, cul-
tural heritage and education.

New Caledonia-Kanaky is located in a region, Oceania,
where China is investing heavily and trading with neighbour-
ing countries. This has often been used to justify the contin-
ued French presence as a Western, largely non-aggressive
buffer to Chinese expansionism (Kowasch et al. 2022). There
are of course other geopolitical reasons for France to keep its
overseas territories and to rebuff decolonisation requests.
Imperialistic aspirations, cultural hegemony and abundant
natural resources stand out. Extensive and globally signifi-
cant nickel reserves on Grande Terre mean it is sometimes
called the “nickel island”, while biodiversity and high spe-
cies endemism are also notable. The archipelago has more
than a hundred years of nickel extraction remaining. Kanak
people were for a long time marginalised in this industry
controlled by French corporate interests, particularly by the
company SLN (Société Le Nickel). There was limited
employment for them in mines and at the Doniambo smelter

in Nouméa. Only recently have Kanak begun to develop sub-
contracting operations, and they have participated in large-
scale mining with the Koniambo project since the beginning
of the 2000s (Kowasch 2010; Rosner 2018). As of early
2024, the shared ownership agreement of Koniambo was
ended by the main investor, Glencore, which decided to sell
its stake, leading to a transitional period. In addition to its
nickel resources, NC-K has an EEZ (exclusive economic
zone) of 1,740,000 km² including major maritime assets:
fish, the biological diversity of reef ecologies, seabed miner-
als and deep-water oil and gas reserves (Maclellan 2017).
The potential resources in the EEZ are desired by French
interests, as France competes for power and recognition on
the international stage.

For the Indigenous scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012),
the term “research” is inextricably linked to European
imperialism and colonialism. When mentioned in many
Indigenous contexts, “it stirs up silence, it conjures up bad
memories” (Tuhiwai Smith 2012, p. 1). In this book, how-
ever, we have tried to integrate Indigenous perspectives into
the research content, and to engage scholars of different
backgrounds, all of whom support cross-cultural exchanges
and knowledge-building. Among them are four Indigenous
Kanak scholars, knowledge holders and activists (Eddie
Wayuone Wadrawane from the island of Maré, Antoine Cano
Poady from the community of Baco in the North, Chanel
Ouetcho from the community of Touaourou in the South and
Jean-Michel Guiart who has Kanak heritage). They have
contributed chapters on Indigenous knowledge and educa-
tion, on cultural heritage and on decolonisation and the prin-
ciple of “common destiny”. These chapters not only deal
with scientific knowledge and concepts but also address
activist issues and Kanak cultural knowledge, such as music
and toponyms.

To value various perspectives on the country (or terri-
tory), and to honour the Indigenous lands that contributors
deal with in different ways (political, social-economic, eco-
logical, historical, spatial), we use the term “New Caledonia-
Kanaky” in the title of the book and in some chapters but
according to author preferences. New Caledonia is the offi-
cial name, dating back to James Cook and his crew who
named it in 1774 only because the mountainous scenery of
the main island reminded Cook of his native Scotland. But
the name has endured right through the colonial period. For
most Indigenous Kanak peoples, the country is called
“Kanaky”. The Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998 and which
President Macron of France wishes to extinguish and replace
in 2024, provided new symbolic national “markers” com-
prising a flag, a country name, banknotes, a slogan and an
anthem. Similar to what occurred in Papua New Guinea, the
future name could be agreed on to be New Caledonia-Kanaky
or Kanaky-New Caledonia, as employed by the former
French overseas minister Victorin Lurel in 2012 and by some
(French) scholars (e.g. Leblic and Cugola 2018) – but there is no official decision yet on this. In addition, because of its history of settlement, there are still customary and European models of land tenure that have run in parallel for almost 170 years. Sourisseau et al. (2010) call this a unique form of “historic dualism”. Kanak communities living on customary land called “tribu” in French (“tribe” in American English) can comprise one or several clans. However, we prefer to use the term “community” in this book, because first, North American tribes are quite different to those in New Caledonia-Kanaky (and we want to avoid misinterpretations), and second, we think that the term “community” better translates – in English – to the structural organisation of several Kanak clans in a social entity. However, it is not used this way in francophone ex-colonies in Africa.

## 1.2 Book Contents

The 21 chapters, including the introduction and the conclusion, reflect the great diversity of the country, from a cultural but also a political, social and ecological perspective. They draw on, and provide examples of, a large variety of concepts such as biodiversity, decolonisation (Batterbury et al. 2020; Mohamed-Gaillard 2020), environmental justice (Svarstad and Benjaminsen 2020), inclusive development (Raworth 2017), locally driven development on customary land (Scheyvens et al. 2020) and feminism and women's rights activism (e.g. Douglas 2003; Trask 1996). The book has seven parts: (1) biodiversity, environmental protection and policies; (2) fisheries and agriculture; (3) extractive industries, mining development and waste management; (4) land reform and urban development; (5) cultural heritage, languages and education; (6) small-scale politics and gender questions; and lastly, (7) decolonisation and political independence.

Part I of this book includes three chapters, environmental protection and terrestrial and marine biodiversity. As we have outlined, New Caledonia-Kanaky has the world's highest plant endemism richness by several measures (Kier et al. 2009) and is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot (Pouteau and Birnbaum 2016). The archipelago's lagoons were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 because of the great diversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems that they offer, and because of their sheer scale.

After this introduction, Rodary introduces environmental policies in NC-K and argues that ecological rationality, doing the right thing for ecosystems, the atmosphere and the oceans, cannot be dissociated from political rationality, which means that certain scales of environmental governance are privileged. The treatment of the archipelago's environmental issues is heavily dependent on the political strategies and tactics of various New Caledonian actors at

different scales (municipal, provincial, New Caledonian, Oceanian and French). Chapter 3 authored by Isnard and Jaffré explores characteristics of New Caledonian plant biodiversity and draws a picture of the major unique elements of its flora. The authors highlight that to protect plant diversity, more ambitious aims are needed including habitat protection, supporting plant populations (not just rare species) and being mindful of genetic diversity. Pelletier explores ocean biodiversity in the fourth chapter, across NC-K's large marine EEZ that includes outlying atolls and remote reef systems in the Coral Sea. She details the particular features and the iconic species that distinguish this part of the South Pacific and the inevitable anthropogenic pressures on oceanic and coastal habitats. While reef and coastal environments remain in better health than many of their neighbours, the threats posed to them are real.

Part II of the book deals with fisheries and agriculture. The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) declared the period 2019–2028 to be the Decade of Family Farming. Georgeou et al. (2022) note that around 80% of all Pacific Islanders still rely on agricultural produce from their own gardens or from other smallholders to support or to supplement their diets. Family and smallholder farming, but also fishing, make an important contribution to food security as many scholars have noted in previous stocktaking exercises and research projects (Connell and Waddell 2006). For example, the interdisciplinary FALAH project (2021–2025), funded by the EU Horizon 2020 RISE programme and led by the University of New Caledonia (UNC), is building a network of research teams operating in the Pacific Islands that have a common interest in family farming and food security and its direct or indirect relationship with the environment, health and nutrition.

In this part, two chapters deal with family farming and fishing practices. First, Sabinot et al. discuss the role of fishing in the livelihood activities of New Caledonians, independently of their social status, and examine the different purposes for which fishing is practised. During their fieldwork, the authors from IRD (Institute of Research for Development) and IAC, both based in New Caledonia-Kanaky, were often told that a good fisher is “responsible” and “respectful”. The fisher’s social function is essential to societal well-being. There have been some efforts to preserve resources and to assist fishers. The authors thus argue that in the face of worldwide over-exploitation of marine resources, small-scale fisheries have to be given more priority, which means enhancing the knowledge systems on which they are based, and their practices. Second, Bouard et al. examine the main transformations that have marked Kanak family farming and describe the ways in which monetisation and globalisation have influenced Kanak custom. They conclude that Kanak domestic groups continue to undertake agricultural, hunting and fishing activities, although some members leave
to work outside the community. Based on a large quantitative
survey of Kanak households, driven by IAC (New Caledonian
Institute of Agronomy) in 2010, and other data, the authors
show that monetary wages are not systematically reinvested
in agriculture and especially not in the purchase of
equipment.

The nickel sector plays a key role in the New Caledonian
economy. This makes it unique among the Pacific islands
and subject to important distortions and influence from
global metal markets. Part III of the volume including three
chapters dealing with nickel exploitation and processing,
which dates back well over a century, environmental policies
in the nickel sector, mining nationalism, and waste
management.

Nickel mining leads to heavy environmental impacts and
creates tonnes of mining waste, so-called mine tailings.
Waste management can be a great challenge for small island
countries (Manglou et al. 2022). The chapter by Pestaña
et al. addresses mining waste but importantly, broader waste
management strategies in NC-K, framed in the context of
island waste problems. The largely urban population gener-
ates metropolitan waste similar to Western cities, and there is
a lack of consistency at all governance levels in the way it is
handled and treated. The vast majority of waste generated is
sent to landfills, and particularly in rural areas, some ends up
in open dumping sites. Better recycling is part of the solu-
tion, but a general aim should be to minimise the waste
stream and establish ethical and innovative management.

Chapter 8 analyses environmental policies and conflicts between companies and local associations/communities. Many scholars have shown that large-scale mining leads to extensive environmental damage, social upheavals and widening economic disparities (Bebbington et al. 2018; Dunlap 2019). Kowasch and Merlin explore how two mining projects in New Caledonia-Kanaky (Goro Nickel in the South and Koniambo in the North) define the links between their environmental impacts, their responsibilities and their political and democratic concerns. Based on the analysis of environmental justice and conflict (Le Billon 2015; Schlosberg 2004), the authors show that the legitimacy of environmental associations and committees negotiating with mining companies is always fluid. Environmental management can be differently addressed and is often intermingled with social and political claims for benefit-sharing and legitimacy, especially in the context of decolonisation and in negotiations with profit-driven entities. In the ninth chapter, Demmer analyses the (unfinished) decolonisation process through the prism of the nickel sector. To promote economic development and emancipation, the Kanak independence party FLNKS have been relatively successful in nickel mining and processing until a recent fall in prices. This chapter provides some insights on the internal arguments and struggles concerning the right strategy to insure benefit from nickel resources.

For the largest population group, the Kanak, land is cru-
cial for their identity. The former Kanak leader Jean-Marie
Tjibaou highlighted that land is more than material wealth or
property: "A clan, which loses its land, loses its personality"
(Tjibaou and Missotte 1976 p. 60). Part IV of this book deals
with land issues and urban development.

Chapter 10, authored by Batterbury, Kowasch and Arroyas – the latter working at ADRAF, the New Caledonian agency in charge of land reform dating back to the 1970s – describes the history of re-allocating and restituting land to the descendants of its earliest inhabitants. Based on two case studies (Poum and Baco, both located in the North Province), the authors investigate the question of recognising land legitimacy without land allocation, a variety of land conflict issues and the assessment of socio-economic development on customary land. They conclude that an individualised profit-oriented neoliberal paradigm and a collective more “inclusive” economy approach overlap on customary land in NC-K. Next, economic development in the North Province (anchored by the Koniambo mining project) is a core element of the politics of rebalancing, initiated with the Matignin-Oudinot Accords in 1988. Economic and financial power is concentrated in the capital Nouméa and its neighbouring municipalities (Dumbéa, Païta and Mont-Dore) forming the Greater Nouméa agglomeration – where 67% of the total population of NC-K live (and around 65% of jobs are located in the South Province) (see Fig. 1.1). Rebalancing politics aim to promote “development” in the Kanak-dominated North of Grande Terre by creating infrastructures and jobs. The geographer Pantz analyses – from a spatial perspective – the ethnic redistribution that accompanies the urban expansion of the capital Nouméa, which has for a long time been entitled “Nouméa, the white”. He argues in Chap. 11 that the persistence of spatial, social and political inequalities and marginalisation raises the question of the true place of Kanak people in Nouméa today.

Part V of this volume addresses cultural heritage, lan-
guages and education, in three chapters. The chapter by
Indigenous Kanak knowledge holders Poady (community of
Baco) and Ouetcho (community of Touaourou), and by
Stastny and Kowasch, highlights Kanak cultural heritage
including toponyms, social mapping and Kaneka music. The
authors demonstrate that in a context of colonial legacies,
institutional conservatism and depleting natural resources,
the initiatives undertaken by Kanak people at the grassroots
level are key to the continuance of Kanak cultural heritage
and practices. The cultural work and artistic engagement of
clans, associations and individuals create opportunities for
Kanak people that are otherwise not, or are inadequately,
provided by (public) institutions. The Kaneka band "Humaagué"
are valuing Kanak cultures and heritage by addressing
a large diversity of topics such as village-level cultural prac-
tices, colonial history, Kanak independence struggles and the
mining industry. Another important aspect of cultural heritage
are Kanak languages, discussed in the following chapter authored by Leblic. The French anthropologist offers an overview of Kanak languages and shows that they persist, although their speakers have been displaced over long periods. Kanak people have taken an interest in language protection, supported by the Academy of Kanak languages and the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Chapter 14, authored by the Kanak educational scientist Eddie Wayuone Wadrawane, deals with Kanak knowledge in formal education. Wadrawane asks how fundamental elements of Kanak culture can be integrated into schooling, with opportunities to develop innovation in teaching techniques and teacher training. He argues “Educational institutions in New Caledonia have for too long been an authority preoccupied with preparing and producing its own heirs” and “Schools tend to distance Kanak pupils from their culture and way of life”.

Part VI contains two chapters dealing with localised political arenas and the evolution of feminist and gender politics. Kerryn Baker describes the tensions between France's democratic support of equal rights and parity between men and women in political bodies, and the historically patriarchal traditions of Kanak society. Notably, the Kanak writer and politician Déwé Gorodey (1949–2022) fought for women's rights, as well as Kanak identity and independence, but male-dominated Kanak bodies strongly resisted French parity laws until 2004. While close to half the seats in the Congress and the Provincial assemblies are now held by women, this is not the case in the Customary Senate or in the Parliament (Wadrawane et al. 2023). Nayral analyses the hybridisation of political power on Ouvéa island in the Loyalty Islands Province (Fig. 1.1), through the actions of a local council that challenges French political norms while still existing within the French Republic.

Part VII turns to the third major theme we identified above, the “unfinished and ongoing process” of decolonisation. This is the focus of Gagné’s chapter on self-determination and the use of Indigenous identity, revealing New Caledonia-Kanaky as unique in the francophone Pacific. So much has been written about the unfolding of the 2018–2021 referendums on independence that it is important to keep an accurate tally of the currents of political debate and actions and the intentions behind them. This is provided by Denise Fisher, former Australian consul in Nouméa. After explaining the referendum processes, she questions the finality of the third referendum, given that such a large percentage of the population consider it illegitimate, as did we (Kowasch et al. 2022). In chapter 19, Jean-Michel Guiart offers a critical perspective on the struggle for independence, questioning not only the motivations of the key actors but also their oft-repeated mantra of seeking a “common destiny”. While this term drove several legitimate and long-lasting efforts to set aside the binary divide that has plagued the colonial period, he argues it is “hard to see in material

and practical terms”. “Common destiny” is a dream without substance, insofar as it does not identify any concrete project or real political will other than the continued benevolence of France. Inequality has a major racial dimension, with Kanak ethno-nationalism on the one hand and French ethno-nationalism on the other. But he argues the racialisation of the New Caledonian political debate sees both sides subjected, in the name of globalisation, to neo-liberalism. In other words, the historical disadvantage of Kanak people remains largely intact, and the whole territory is no closer to a commonality of intent after decades of struggle and deliberation on matters of governance. He proposes, following Foucault, that the future lies in addressing inequality, leaning towards some form of heterotopia, or “worlds within worlds” in which individual cultures can still thrive, but with social and economic justice. It is not a question of overthrowing the oppressor, he argues, but of escaping domination by destroying the system that alienates. For Scott Robertson in his chapter, the French “citizenship ideal” has not worked in New Caledonia-Kanaky, challenged by the persistent disagreements and inequality that Guiart identifies.

## 1.3 Discussion

This book is the result of collective effort, across cultures and spanning the globe. However, no volume of this type can be a complete geographical account, since geographies are constantly being rewritten by the flux in geopolitical relations affecting the archipelago, the turbulent political debate around independence and changing economic fortunes with overwhelming reliance on a single mineral export that changes in value, affecting labour markets and the natural environment.

We recognise that even with 21 chapters we could not cover every topic. The book does not have a lengthy discussion of climate change, past and present, but this is referenced in several IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports and other studies (Dutheil et al. 2021). Dutheil et al. estimate that the islands will see an 18% decrease in annual mean rainfall by 2080–2100, due to changing atmospheric circulation, experienced particularly during the summer hot season. They show that this is because of “strong anti-cyclonic and air subsidence anomalies centred on the north of New Caledonia, which reduces moisture convergence over the archipelago” (Dutheil et al. 2021, p. 87). The effects including more bushfires will fall on water resources and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, New Caledonia-Kanaky is occasionally in the path of cyclones, which are increasingly felt outside the normal cyclone seasons, affecting perceptions of risk and vulnerability. We have omitted discussion of Pacific development aid programmes, because NC-K is in a rather unique situation given its fiscal
and administrative links to France, from which it receives
financial transfers, and it is therefore part of the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
By contrast, it receives little support from international
NGOs and multilateral agencies. It is not part of the European
Union, and funding has diminished for the OCTs (EU
Overseas Countries or Territories). Its aid flows are not
reported by the World Bank after 2004. Nonetheless, indi-
vidual programmes do operate, many of them registered as
local associations and membership organisations, notably in
social support programmes, healthcare and nature
conservation.

The classic concept of scalar geographies is very relevant in New Caledonia-Kanaky, given its enmeshment in global assemblages of cultures and trade that are organised hierarchically (Green 2016). It is well understood that “socio-spatial processes change the importance and role of certain geographical scales” (Swyngedouw and Heynen 2003, p. 913). The French Pacific dependencies are subject to distant sites of power, to which they are beholden, but to which they also contribute through flows of materials, people, culture and knowledge. Scalar interlinkages are complex.

The local scale was impacted by the socio-spatial nature
of pre-colonial clan histories of settlement and movements,
as they traced itineraries across the islands. Talking with
elders in September 2022 and August 2023, we were struck
how memories of these histories are still strong. European
settlement, the radiation of settlement from Nouméa, land
spoliation and the creation of “tribal reserves” for Kanak
people all disturbed the lifeways and social relationships of
the first inhabitants, later leading to significant land access
problems and land tenure conflicts.

At the regional or “island” scale, the creation of three
provinces by the Matignon-Oudinot Accords (1988) in the
wake of the 1980s civil war was significant, because it gave
more administrative and some political autonomy. This is the
scale at which biophysical and political connections and dis-
connections have emerged. New Caledonia-Kanaky exhibits
significant urban primacy, and on Grande Terre, there are
still significant clashes between the aims of capitalist mining
firms and environmental policies and nature conservation
efforts. The efforts by the North Province to establish a new
urban growth pole anchored by the Koniambo mine are also
significant (including shopping malls, rental housing, leisure
facilities, filling stations, etc.). Nevertheless, the demo-
graphic and economic dominance of the capital Nouméa in
the South remains.

The EEZ, but also the establishment of the UNESCO
World Heritage Site (in 2008) and of the Natural Park of the
Coral Sea (in 2014), extends the island space into marine ter-
ritory, although so far without adequate resources or political
will for management and regulation, as Pelletier's chapter
illustrates. However, the marine space represents an opportu-

nity for NC-K and France for economic development on the
national and also the international stage. Some improve-
ments in marine protection were approved in 2023.

The Pacific region is increasingly significant in world
affairs given its geopolitical importance, particularly for
Chinese influence and because of its enduring colonial links
(Kowasch et al. 2022; Strating et al. 2022). The relationship
with France and other countries is playing out, for example,
in a dispute over the EEZ borders with Vanuatu, and France’s
relatively new Pacific Islands Forum membership. In 2023,
French President Emmanuel Macron was promoting an
Indo-Pacific vision, but independence supporters in NC-K
feel little affinity for it. Other issues, like oceanic plastic
waste, have a cross-Pacific dimension (Fuller et al. 2022;
Manglou et al. 2022). The colonial relationship, some of the
movement of minerals and the geopolitical standoff between
the major powers operating across the Pacific have all been
formed at the global level, given (in particular) the extreme
distances between France and NC-K. NC-K’s bargaining
position in the United Nations is tricky, since France is a full
member, and President Macron and his predecessors have
done nothing to advance independence, despite Macron
highlighting that colonisation was a crime against humanity,
in a speech in Algeria in 2017 (Le Monde 2017). His position
has since hardened (NC 1ère 2023). It is worth remember-
ing – and this is not always evident when focussing on the
mine sites, huge trucks, and wharfs on Grande Terre – that
the market for nickel, the prime export, is global. The recent
arrival of Tesla as an important buyer reinforces this, as does
the fall in nickel prices of 2023 and 2024.

1.4 Conclusion

A scalar political ecology (Green 2016) of Pacific issues is
fundamentally geographical in scope and ambition. Space is
socially constructed. Scalar relationships interrelate and
imbricate over time. We cannot understand social, political,
economic and environmental transformations on “connected”
islands like these without reference to the “higher-order”
processes that led to transformations of land use, settlement
and social change (Connell and Waddell 2006).

While this is a fundamental geographical observation,
there is also an emerging sociospatial agenda for change
here. It is guided by an ethical position expressed in different
ways in this book: self-determination and tolerance rather
than overdetermination by lucrative extractivist forces and
by a geopolitical agenda forged largely in Europe. Addressing
inequalities across gender, race and class and recognizing
that the unique island endemism and species diversity on
land and at sea matter, as do lowering CO₂ emissions and
managing pollution and waste. The words of Ojeda et al. (2022)
provide guidance. They argue for a “common connection to
each other while feeding from our separate roots”. This
means simultaneously “acknowledging where we come
from, while climbing out of our differences into shared lis-
tening” (Ojeda et al. 2022, p. 160). For this, “we all need to
be on the same side despite our differences and partial
knowledges. We do not have time, life, or energy to spend
fighting each other anymore. We have to listen” (ibid, p. 162).
Over the years, similar sentiments have been expressed in
NC-K, for example, by the current president of the New
Caledonian government, Louis Mapou (Confavreux 2020).

The comedic movie “The Rob Mission” (dir. Chevrin 2021) introduced a lighter note into a fraught period of political and economic uncertainty. Two astronauts, Kanak and Caldoche,<fnref n="1" /> are a few minutes out from preparing to shake hands for the cameras as they circle over the territory on a satellite that will, among other things, produce imagery capable of identifying every last gram of exploitable Caledonian nickel. But arguments about symbolism, flags, the length of traditional greetings and food choices rapidly dissolve their partnership, derailing their mission and placing it in extreme peril. The short film plays on racial international stereotypes – “France will pay”, one says, as their bickering breaks the satellite, and things do not end well despite a last-minute effort to bury their differences and save the mission and themselves. A self-serving French politician back on Grande Terre hopes the live broadcast of “friendship” will give a “future together” (common destiny) message on screen, but he just annoys both astronauts. Like the movie, this book exposes some of the reasons that “listening” in NC-K has been so hard since the 1800s but also some of the issues around which it has occurred, or still must happen. New Caledonia-Kanaky is a window on the world. It deserves much more attention. We all need to focus on “conversations and actions across lines of difference to address shared interests in a world where many worlds are possible and where living worlds are recognized, respected, and valued for themselves and for serving as the basis for flourishing human communities” (Ojeda et al. 2022, p. 163).

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**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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<figure><img src="image_6.png" /></figure>
Part I

Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
# Which Environmental Policies for New Caledonia?

2

Estienne Rodary

## Abstract

Scientists identified the extraordinary terrestrial and marine biodiversity of New Caledonia over 70 years ago. Campaigns to preserve endemic flora and fauna by international NGOs have existed since the 1960s, but established interests lying behind the extractive economy on Grande Terre helped delay effective environmental regulations and actions until the 2000s. The territory still has some of the highest CO2 emissions per capita in the world. Multi-layered governance is in place, applied through the Convention on Biological Diversity (initiated in 1992), the UNESCO World Heritage listing for reefs and lagoons (2008) and the Natural Park of the Coral Sea (2014). Ecological policies are hampered by the divergence of views on the environment at the provincial and territorial scales and the degree of local participation that is permitted in environmental decision-making. Different resources also fall under different management regimes, and some campaigns target environmental issues alongside social and economic justice issues.

## Keywords

Environmental policies · New Caledonia · UNESCO
World Heritage · Biodiversity hotspot · Protected areas

## 2.1 Introduction

New Caledonia presents a mixed picture when it comes to environment. On the one hand, the territory is characterised by exceptional and unique natural habitats. The prevalence of nickel on the main island Grande Terre gives New

Caledonia very specific soils that have profoundly shaped living organisms. The remoteness of the islands increases their biological peculiarity, and as other chapters also show, the territory is classified as a biodiversity hotspot, and has the world's highest plant endemism richness (Kier et al. 2009). On the other hand, the main island is profoundly marked by more than one century of nickel exploitation that has brought its share of environmental damage and pollution, as well as profits to the French state and commercial interests. In this context, environmental protection has long been overlooked or undeveloped, particularly where it challenges the mining sector. The importance of New Caledonian biological diversity was known from the 1950s onwards but only officially emerged as a domain worth of political action in the 1990s. Similarly, local authorities did nothing about air quality for decades, even when the French weather agency (Météo France) offered new air quality detectors to cover all French territories in the early 1990s.<fnref n="1" /> The first structure in charge of air quality control (Scal'air) was only set up in 2004 and the first measures were actually implemented in 2007.<fnref n="2" />

The turn of the twenty-first century was indeed a crucial moment in the dawn of New Caledonia's environmental policies. There was no mention of environment issues in the Nouméa Agreement signed in 1998, but the three provinces gazetted their own environmental Code ten years later (2008 for the North Province, 2009 for the South Province and 2016 for the Loyalty Islands Province). The end of the 2000s also saw the first local community unrest over environmental conservation, in particular in opposition to the nickel industry. Those movements were an impulse for wider environmental concerns. The island's lagoons were listed in the UNESCO's World Heritage Site in 2008. The subsequent creation of the Natural Park of the Coral Sea in 2014 that covers the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) promoted

<footnote>E. Rodary (✉)
UMR SENS, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France
e-mail: estienne.rodary@ird.fr</footnote>

<footnote n="1">¹NGO administrative, personal communication, July 2017.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²http://www.scalair.nc/scal-air/presentation/historique-du-projet.</footnote>
a new image of a territory at the forefront of environmental policies in the Pacific region (Dégremont 2017).

Whether this image was legitimate, and for whom, is an open question. As the title of this chapter suggests, “environment” refers to a set of diverse and contentious issues that have different relevance for different actors. “Environment” is understood here not only in material terms but as a problem of human-environment relationships, both scientific and political in nature.

It follows that environmental problems, as well as the mechanisms devised to solve them, differ according to who is seeing and assessing them. And this is all the more important in profoundly divided territories such as New Caledonia, where an environmental policy may have different meanings and different impacts to the different communities that make up society. To give only one example, New Caledonia ranks third globally in its emissions of CO₂ by person (at 30 t CO₂/person in 2019).<fnref n="3" /> But the territory's Gini coefficient is 0.43 (Mathieu et al. 2016),<fnref n="4" /> showing strong wealth inequalities, with some producing very little CO₂. New Caledonian communities consume natural resources at very different rates and are also affected differently by the exploitation of those resources. As a result, some are much more willing and able to engage with environmental public policies than others.

Policy analyses show that a “problem” only becomes one when an issue is perceived as such by some stakeholders (Surel 2000). The potential discrepancy between this cognitive construction of a problem and its policy formulation is generally narrowed where the decision-making actors (in particular, the state) are perceived as legitimate. This is, of course, patchy: an environmental problem will not be seen in the same way depending on the positionality of its observers, spatially and socially; what may be a problem for some actors may not be for others. The consequence is that environmental policies are always confronted with two types of tensions. On the one hand, some stakeholders will not recognise the policies put in place, finding them irrelevant or illegitimate. On the other hand, social fragmentation allows certain pressure groups or vested interests to orient environmental policies, issues or targets to suit their own interests, rather than the public interest. This observation can be applied to any kind of social context, but it is particularly relevant to post-colonial societies such as New Caledonia, which is still marked by a strong segregationist heritage and deep socio-economic disparities.

This chapter attempts to take this fragmented situation into account. Rather than presenting a mere list of environmental problems in New Caledonia and the policies put in place to address them, it outlines these issues in conjunction with the different scales at which they are set and dealt with. Scalar politics are indeed crucial in New Caledonia, because of the colonial history and the segregation that resulted from it. At the local level, the colonial system, based on European settlement and the creation of “tribal/community reserves” for the Kanak population, generated strong land tenure conflicts that are still tangible today. At the regional level, the creation of three provinces by the Nouméa Agreement (1998) in the wake of the civil war gave the provinces a large degree of political autonomy that sometimes collides with the “territorial” (i.e. New Caledonian) government. Another scale that profoundly shapes environmental policies is the “island” level, where “islandness” brings different effects – both ecological and political – of connection and disconnection. The Pacific region is a further level that moulds New Caledonian policies, in stark contrast to the exclusive relation that New Caledonia holds with France.

This chapter uses these different scales as a way to present the main environmental policies that have been implemented in New Caledonia and to show the processes of fragmentation that are so specific to New Caledonian environmental policies.

## 2.2 Divided We Feel

The first level where one can see fragmented dynamics in environmental policies is at the local level. Here we will present two examples of such local fragmentation, mining-related environmental policies and nature conservation policies, where, over the last two decades, New Caledonia has seen the emergence of highly differentiated forms of civil society mobilisation (see chapter by Kowasch and Merlin in this book).

The New Caledonian countryside has been transformed by mining activities since the end of the nineteenth century. Nickel mining in particular has had a significant impact on the islands' natural environments, although heavily concentrated on Grande Terre (Richer de Forges and Pascal 2008). In 2008, it was estimated that the total area degraded by soil excavation was about 200 square kilometres, that is, 1.2% of the surface area of the main island Grande Terre. Today, some of these areas are still being exploited, others are abandoned (becoming orphan mines) but their effects on ecosystems persist, particularly because land restoration on ultramafic habitats takes much longer than in less hostile environments. It has been estimated that land restoration on ultramafic rock and soil can take up to 500 years (Losfeld et al. 2015). Opencast mining has very serious environmental

<footnote n="3">³After Qatar, Curaçao, followed by Trinidad and Tobago, Kuwait, Brunei, Bahrain, Mongolia, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Data: http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions. Accessed 20 April 2021.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴See also http://www.isee.nc/emploi-revenus/revenus-salaires/inegalites-pauvrete-revenus-sociaux?highlight=WyJnaW5pI10=. Accessed 14 September 2018.</footnote>
consequences, with the destruction of the ecosystems at the mine site, erosion, the dissemination of toxic-rich metal dusts and the pollution of rivers and lagoons (Desoutter and Bertaud 2019). Mining activities in New Caledonia have been increased over the last two decades with the creation of two new large mines and processing plants in the North Province (Koniambo, currently suspended) and the South Province (Goro) (see Chap. 8 by Kowasch and Merlin and Chap. 9 by Demmer in this book). Official figures are not made public, but it is estimated that 150 new hectares have been mined each year since 2009, compared to 50 hectares per year in previous decades. Mining concessions today occupy 300,000 hectares, or 18% of the territory,<fnref n="5" /> which also suggests a strong mining growth. This is particular since the establishment of the Goro plant that, thanks to its hydro-metallurgy process, can extract nickel from laterites at low levels of concentration.<fnref n="6" />

Despite the importance of the effects of mining activities from the early twentieth century, New Caledonia only adopted strong environmental protection measures with the revision of the 2009 mining code. This code includes a number of regulations, including one that requires the revegetation of mining sites. But those regulations have a limited impact due to the low rate of land restoration and the complexity of recreating ecosystems with species endemism of up to 90%.

It is in the municipalities most affected by extraction activities that antagonism to mining companies has been most prevalent, for example, in Thio, the first mining town (Le Meur 2017), or Mont Dore where the Goro hydrometallurgical plant was built (Merlin 2014). Unrest typically combines identity claims, economic arguments and environmental concerns. In the case of Goro, which has experienced serious and accidental pollution and risk management problems associated with acid ore processing, the mobilisation led to the creation of the Rhéébù Nùù committee in 2002 (see Chap. 8 by Kowasch and Merlin in this book). The action of this grassroot organisation led to the well-known agreement between the mining company and the village communities on sustainable development in the Great South (Levacher 2017). Mines like this one sit at the heart of identity claims, at specific sites where indigenous issues intersect with wage demands, health concerns and environmental issues – all associated with mines. The social movements around the construction of the Koniambo plant had a less obvious connection to environmental issues and were more related to land tenure claims from local Kanak communities (Kowasch 2012). The North Province administration controlled by a

pro-independence party devised the North plant as a way to increase the economic revenues of the province, giving it a different status with local Kanak residents. In both cases nevertheless, because Kanak identities are profoundly embedded within a sense of place and history, environmental and economic transformation from mining cannot be disconnected from a holistic change in social relationships and the territorial belongings of Kanak communities.

In other locations, communities can remain distant from mining pollution issues, either because they are far from mine sites or because specific interests impede this type of issue from emerging. The most emblematic case is certainly the Société le Nickel (SLN) plant located in Doniambo, a smelter bordering downtown Nouméa, where air and marine pollution (linked in particular to the backfill works carried out in the harbour and the discharge of pollutant gases) are minimised by the SLN and public authorities to reduce public concern. In this context, a handful of local NGOs venture to expose and oppose the production of air pollution by powerful actors like SLN. One of the main local NGOs, Ensemble Pour La Planète (EPLP), has invested heavily in mobilising against pollution across the territory and has denounced collusion between industry and government that allows heavily polluting activities to continue. EPLP, as a federation of local NGOs, is currently the most dynamic structure in terms of its ability to bring issues to court or to mobilise the media on environmental concerns.

Nature conservation policies have been shaped in rather different ways, because they have involved a wider range of expatriate experts (researchers, civil servants, community activists) and with an under-representation of local people, whether of European origin or Kanak.

It is in this field of conservation issues that New Caledonia has the greatest number of organisations, either local or international. Since the creation in 1965 of the first environmental association in New Caledonia, the New Caledonian Ornithological Society, naturalist organisations have multiplied, and their fields of intervention have also increased, spreading from ornithology to larger issues such as mangrove conservation, land restoration, etc. International organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Conservation International (CI, present since 1996) and the Pew Charitable Trusts have in recent years set up branches in New Caledonia and today have a leading role in financing biodiversity conservation policies and managing or monitoring protected habitats or species. The intervention of global NGOs at the local level on the islands is not without friction and controversies. CI's role in New Caledonia is maybe one of the most telling of these tensions, which are largely shaped by questions of belonging and legitimacy. It is active on different topics, such as control of invasive species (see Chap. 3 by Isnard and Jaffré in this book) and coastal management. It is also invested in more localised actions, in which alliances

<footnote n="5">⁵Magali Reinert, “En Nouvelle-Calédonie, la biodiversité sacrifiée sur l’autel du nickel”, 12 October 2016.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶Fabrice Colin, Senior Researcher, French Research Institute for Sustainable Development, personal communication, June 2017.</footnote>
with local communities can be decisive for the success of its projects. In some cases, such as in the Mount Panié Reserve (North Province), CI has been able to strengthen its links with a local association, Dayu Biik, which manages the protected area. It partly funds the organisation, which recently decided to prohibit tourists from entering the reserve and to stop its collaboration with scientists who used to conduct research there. In other cases, such as on Ouvéa Island (Loyalty Islands Province), customary authorities revoked the ability of CI to operate, after they discovered that CI was setting up a trilateral agreement between Ouvéa's authorities, CI and a Swiss cosmetics company that would give the latter bioprospecting rights (anonymous, personal communication). Global NGOs' capacity for action and even their presence in New Caledonia is therefore largely affected by legitimacy issues in a context where environmental issues are closely connected to economic and identity politics.

## 2.3 Three Provinces and One Territory

The second level of tension in environmental policies is found between the provincial governments and the New Caledonian territory government. The Nouméa Accord helped to reduce political tensions, in particular through the creation of three provinces with large political autonomy. Two of them (North Province and Loyalty Province) are governed by pro-independence parties, and one (South Province) is controlled by the anti-independence party.

The provinces have autonomy over laws and regulations regarding terrestrial and coastal environments, for which each province has its own environmental code. But in this context of provincialisation, divergent philosophies regarding environmental policy orientations and the logic of integration of local populations are emerging (David 2015). The South Province code is, for instance, almost identical to the French code, which is notoriously poor in measures to enable public participation. Comparatively, the government of the North Province has introduced some more elements of community involvement. And the code of the Loyalty Islands Province has reversed the order of priorities between scientific expertise and local expectations.<fnref n="7" /> The creation of protected areas there, for example, is only possible on the basis of community initiative. Similarly, new articles of the code that have been voted in 2023 give certain species (and specifically sharks and sea turtles that have special significance in Kanak societies) the status of legal subjects.

There is, therefore, a real move towards decentralisation at the provincial level, with the aim of accommodating different political orientations in New Caledonia. But at the

same time, this decentralisation process is confronted with competing logics that seek to frame environmental policy at the territory level. For instance, the management of emblematic and marine species such as turtles (*Cheloniidae* and *Dermochelyidae*) and dugongs (*Dugong dugon*) has justified the creation of countrywide action plans involving local authorities, NGOs, scientists and the provinces, with the rationale that the population of those species range over provincial boundaries. But this does not necessarily mean that all stakeholders participating in the action plans have the same vision about management options for these species. Should the plan target Kanak people that have historically hunted these animals for customary ceremonies? Or should actions be focused on nonprofessional sailors and fishermen in the greater Nouméa region, who constitute the largest anthropogenic pressure on the marine environment? (see Chap. 5 by Sabinot et al. in this book) On these questions, the North and Loyalty Provinces on the one hand and the South Province (generally backed by NGOs) on the other hand have divergent answers even though they are all engaged in the action plans.

These provincial differences also affect other issues of concern. Among them, one of particular importance is the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) policies developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (signed in 1992 with the ABS policies adopted in 2010 under the Nagoya Protocol of the CBD). These require any entity wishing to collect and/or use biological resources to obtain prior agreement from communities that own, use or possess associated knowledge linked to these resources. The identification of these communities is in itself a complex subject (Robinson and Forsyth 2016), especially when they straddle different jurisdictions, as with the three provinces. The legal framework is complicated in the New Caledonian case because although the provinces have authority over the use of natural resources, the associated knowledge legally falls under the government of New Caledonia, which has not yet introduced any law or regulation on this matter.

Another important topic has been the classification of the New Caledonian lagoon as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (see Fig. 2.1). This also highlighted the tensions between the levels of government.<fnref n="8" /> New Caledonia's nomination had identified, on the basis of ecological criteria, six separated protected marine areas spread over the three provinces. But UNESCO required these areas to be managed by a single structure, explaining that one UNESCO site could not be properly run by three different authorities. This led to the creation of the Conservatory of Natural Areas (*Conservatoire d'espaces naturels; CEN*), which has since been in charge of the management of the six areas.

<footnote n="7">⁷Délibération n° 2016-13/API of 6 April 2016 concerning the adoption of the environmental legislation of the Loyalty Islands Province. *Journal officiel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie*, 23 June 2016.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸NGO administrative and Government officers, personal communication, October 2017.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 2.1** UNESCO World Heritage Sites in New Caledonia. (Source: https://georep.nc/, cartography: Eibl 2022)</figcaption></figure>

In recent years the CEN has broadened its scope by including other domains of action at the country level, including the conservation of endangered dry forests (*forêts sèches*), the battle against invasive alien species, an action plan for dugong and the coordination of the local committee of IFRECOR (French Coral Reef Initiative). According to some inside observers, the CEN is an organisation whose added value lies in its ability to provide coherence in the policies it implements countrywide, an ability that the provinces do not have. For others, on the contrary, the CEN is merely a structure in charge of issues that the provinces do not want to deal with.

## 2.4 The Island

The third scale concerns the island level, understood as the New Caledonian archipelago in this case. Islands terrestrial habitats are characterised by a strong level of isolation. In this context, the ability to restrict or cordon off remote islands from humans (Dalmas et al. 2016), animals or plants is controlled by a limited number of actors with a disproport

tionate weight in relation to the entire population. This was illustrated by the cancellation of travel to New Caledonia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. Here, ecological dynamics intersected with political and economic strategies to create an “isolationist ideology”, even though the materiality of the isolation was undermined by existing global flows and networks that structurally include the movement of goods, people, animals, plants and even biogeochemical elements (such as plastic debris on beaches) that prevent the archipelago from being an isolated space, regardless of political viewpoints and projects (Maes and Blanke 2015).

The fight against invasive species is an issue that illustrates this point. It is widely recognised among biodiversity conservation policy specialists that the introduction of alien species poses risks to native species, in particular for oceanic islands (Beauvais et al. 2006). In practice, however, the current global “melting pot of biodiversity”, that is, the global mix of species found on any particular place (Kull et al. 2013) makes it particularly difficult to control movements (natural or anthropogenic) and to clean up a local habitat from external elements.
In general, invasive species management policies must combine strictly ecological factors with technical data on the feasibility of these management methods and even more so with the potential economic or social interests that these species represent. In New Caledonia, the Sunda sambar (*Cervus timorensis*) is emblematic of these cross-cutting issues. Introduced on the island in 1870, the population of this deer species is today around several hundred thousand individuals and spreads over the entire main island, which makes its eradication technically impossible.<fnref n="9" /> The species causes extensive damage to forests, leading to increased erosion. As such, it is the subject of an old policy of population control through hunting. A jaw bonus system has been in place since 2008. But the paradox is that deer are now subject of appropriation by Caledonians, in which deer hunting stands as a heritage practice. Deer eradication is therefore not only technically impracticable but also socially impossible, especially since deer hunting largely transcends community divisions and constitutes one of the practices shared by all Caledonians.

At the other extreme, one anopheles mosquito species, a malaria vector, was introduced in New Caledonia in 2017, probably through the importation of exotic plants (bamboo) for the local market. The country had never had a population of this mosquito species and was therefore malaria-free, although the disease is found in nearby countries (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu). Despite the health alert issued early after the mosquito was detected, the measures taken by the authorities have not been able to eradicate the mosquito population. In August 2018, the mosquito was found in different regions of the main island, a situation that makes its eradication extremely difficult. To date the spreading of malaria has been restrained, but there is a risk that New Caledonia will have to introduce health policies to manage malaria in the future, at very high cost, thanks to economic vested interests that broke the isolation policies put in place in New Caledonia (Pol et al. 2018).

## 2.5 Their Sea of Islands

The strategies deployed by New Caledonian actors in marine environmental policies differ from the terrestrial ones. In the marine domain, more than on land where the material dimension of indigeneity is more obvious, the logic of action at the ocean scale seems self-evident. Ecological connectivity processes are particularly pronounced (Olds et al. 2016), and population movements are historically significant (Hau'ofa 1994). This Pacific scale is nevertheless seen by most New Caledonian decision-makers as a complex level in which the

territory is both seeking a regional legitimacy and a French exclusivity.

The role New Caledonia has played in the creation of very large marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Pacific Ocean is a case in point. While big MPAs were almost non-existent before 2010 (except in the form of small coastal marine protected areas) the last decade has seen an explosion of MPAs at the global scale but especially in the Pacific region. In 2023, the Pacific Region nests 21 of the largest MPAs (more than 100,000 square kilometres) that together account for 12.5 million square kilometres (of the 27 million protected worldwide). In this context, the creation of the Natural Park of the Coral Sea in 2014 was part of an oceanic dynamic. It served as a strategic instrument for France (which was seeking to catch up to the Aichi objectives set by the CBD, of reaching 10% of marine areas protected) and for New Caledonia (which saw this park as an important lever for regional cooperation).

The park covers the entire EEZ but not the territorial waters (and therefore not the coastline) and as such affects relatively few stakeholders. But the management committee set up as the main governance body of the park is nevertheless inclusive, bringing together administrative authorities, socio-economic actors, environmental associations and customary authorities. The management committee had to formulate a management plan during the first years of the park and it was finally validated in 2018. But this plan remains very broad and without specific goals and means.

Nine years after its creation, the park is still in a development phase. Its administrative staff is limited (and depends on a small team within the Department of Maritime Affairs), its management means on the ground is non-existent (and depends on other agencies: army, provinces and government) and the management plan (2018-2022) does not provide specific budget or action measures. The park has nevertheless implemented some conservation measures in the last years. Several reserves were created in 2018, covering 2.3% of the park's surface area, extended to 10% in 2023. These reserves with high level of protection aim at protecting remote coral reefs and seamounts from fishing and tourism.

The park therefore has a double characteristic that distinguishes it from other environmental measures in New Caledonia. On the one hand, it comprises a very broad governance body associated with an area covering almost all New Caledonia's seas. As such, it is a management structure that can have a say in all actions carried out by public authorities, the private sector and individuals in the maritime domain. The park can serve as a platform for stakeholders to organise and manage activities at sea, thus almost being an instrument of marine spatial planning. On the other hand, the governance of the park is, in practice, restricted to the repre-

<footnote n="9">⁹François Tron, Head of CI New Caledonia, personal communication, December 2017.</footnote>
sentatives and/or leaders of the various stakeholders and
does not have mechanisms for the participation of New
Caledonian populations. The public consultation conducted
in 2017 through some 50 meetings throughout the country
received only 250 opinions. <fnref n="10" /> This lack of participation is
compounded by a lack of capacity, both in terms of monitor-
ing and control of the MPA and in terms of public awareness.
In short, the park encompasses the whole of New Caledonia’s
maritime region – stakeholders and spaces – but does not
have the capacity to develop further, due to shallow partici-
pation mechanisms and lack of resources.

In this context of great uncertainties surrounding the
park's long-term funding, the government and conservation
NGOs are seeking to position the park in the international
project-based funding networks that dominate the world of
development aid. To this end, the strategy devised in Nouméa
is to present the park as a special asset that distinguishes it
from other MPAs and, more generally, from other marine
environments in the Pacific. The first element of this rhetoric
was forged from scientific data showing that New Caledonia's
coral reefs were in relatively good condition at the global
scale (Cinner et al. 2018), and suggesting that while "pris-
tine" reefs accounted for only 1.5% of all tropical reefs, New
Caledonia alone hosted one-third of them.<fnref n="11" /> This informa-
tion, demonstrating New Caledonia's exceptionality, spread
quickly through the media and into political domains. The
government has since organised its communication strategy
around New Caledonia's ecological wealth and the potential
it represents in economic terms (marine ecotourism,
advanced maritime industries, etc.), promoting it as a "biodi-
versity research hotspot".¹² The change from ecological nar-
ratives to economic ones is unsurprising, but what is more
specific to New Caledonia is the shift in places and scales,
where terrestrial biodiversity richness (exceptional but
strongly impacted, as shown earlier) is now engulfed by
marine biodiversity (important but not exceptional compared
to the coral environments of Southeast Asia) (Payri 2018).
This aim here is to display New Caledonia as distinctive,
compared to its geographical or ecological neighbours. A
question is whether this assertion of natural biodiversity
richness, boosted by the establishment of the MPA, is part of
an isolationist ideology that diminishes regional cooperation
and the importance of transoceanic movements.

2.6 France at the End?

There are close ties between the strong bond New Caledonia
has with France and the limited involvement it has across the
Pacific region. A narrative about the unique features of the
New Caledonian environment illustrates this. The attach-
ment to France has been considered essential by all govern-
ments of New Caledonia over the last three decades and
during the onset of institutional process of self-determination
(Maclellan 2018). The environmental sector is dominated by
French advisors, technicians and scientists, despite the trans-
fer of skills that New Caledonia has seen over the past
20 years. In the maritime domain, while the government of
New Caledonia has authority over the exploration, exploita-
tion and conservation of natural resources in the EEZ, France
retains powers over the exploitation of "strategic resources",
and of policing in all domains, including the control of inter-
national vessels and, among them, the "blue boats" that fish
illegally in New Caledonian waters.

The power of France's presence in all the oceans of the
globe and the size of its global EEZ give it particular power,
especially in the South Pacific. <fnref n="13" /> As long as New Caledonia
remains dependent on France, geopolitical strategies devel-
oped in Paris cover the assertion of maritime military capac-
ity, MPAs and their control and the potential to exploit
seabed mining resources.

Here, as with other scalar politics presented in this chap-
ter, environmental issues, far from being merely ecological
subjects, are heavily dependent on the political strategies and
tactics of various New Caledonian actors who play on
scales – communal, provincial, New Caledonian, Oceanian
and French – like fish in a water column.

Ecological rationality cannot be dissociated from political
rationality in the privileging of particular scales of environ-
mental governance. Technical management of environmental
issues and outcomes is doomed to failure if the multi-layered
political nature of the natural environment of New Caledonia
and its waters is not recognised. This is particularly true in
the specific context of a highly fragmented society embarked
on process of independence.

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<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>
# What Makes New Caledonia's Flora So Outstanding?

3

Sandrine Isnard and Tanguy Jaffré

**Abstract**

This chapter explores the main characteristics of New Caledonian plant biodiversity, and provides a condensed picture of the major unique elements of its flora. We present the results of recent research conducted in a territory that has much to contribute to science and society. We explore the original and unique representation of some plant lineages and functional groups, as well as the rich and diversified vegetation.

**Keywords**

Biodiversity hotspot · Endemism · Island flora · New Caledonia · Ultramafic vegetation

## 3.1 Introduction

New Caledonia is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating regions for many botanists. The territory harbours a highly diverse and endemic flora with approximately 3400 autochthonous vascular species, of which 75.5% are endemics (i.e. species that occur nowhere else) (Morat et al. 2012; Munzinger et al. 2022). Ultramafic substrates, that is, metal-rich and nutrient-poor soils with chemical and physical properties that constrain plant growth, have strongly influenced the exceptional endemism and richness found in New Caledonia (Isnard et al. 2016). When global endemism is

compared to other regional flora, New Caledonia is ranked third after Hawaii (89%) and New Zealand (82–89%). The distinctiveness of New Caledonia rests on the concentration of endemism and richness (Schmid 1982) found in a relatively small surface area (ca. 19,000 km²). The archipelago is also remarkable for harbouring three endemic families (Amborellaceae, Phellinaceae and Oncothecaceae) (Fig. 3.1) and a high number of endemic genera, currently estimated between 62 and 91 (Munzinger et al. 2022; Pillon et al. 2017). New Caledonia is also rich in relict lineages, that is, remnant plant species from a large group where most taxa are now extinct, leading several authors to recognize New Caledonia as a phytogeographic unit (“region” (Guillaumin 1934) or “sub-kingdom” (Takhtajan 1969)). Despite geographic proximity, floristic affinities with Vanuatu are relatively low (Schmid 1990), possibly because of their recent proximity and their edaphic divergence (Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg 1998; Schmid 1990). Analyses of floristic affinities (Morat et al. 1994; Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg 1998), supported by phylogenies (Barrabé et al. 2014; Swenson et al. 2014; Thomas et al. 2014; Turner et al. 2013), have identified Australia and then New Guinea and the geographic area of *Flora Malesiana* as the most likely origin for a substantial proportion of the New Caledonian flora.

New Caledonia is also recognized as a major hotspot of terrestrial biodiversity, because of its high endemism but also because of the threats to habitats, as more than 70% of the original vegetation has been lost (Myers et al. 2000). This recognition of a unique biological heritage should drive greater protection of natural habitats, as highlighted by Ibanez et al. (2019), to reduce the impact of anthropogenic activities on natural resources.

Some of the most threatened formations unique worldwide are maquis (a non-forest vegetation on ultramafic substrates), areas of dry forest and the relics of rainforest on ultramafic substrates (which are also sources of nickel, chromium and cobalt from peridotite and serpentinite rocks) (Bouchet et al. 1995; Ibanez et al. 2019; Jaffré et al. 2010).

S. Isnard (✉)
UMR AMAP, IRD, Herbier de Nouvelle-Calédonie,
Nouméa, New Caledonia
e-mail: sandrine.isnard@ird.fr

T. Jaffré
UMR AMAP, University of Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS,
INRAE, Montpellier, France
e-mail: tanguy.jaffre@ird.fr
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 3.1** The three endemic families of New Caledonia. (a) *Amborella trichopoda* (Amborellaceae); (b) *Phelline macrophylla* (Phellinaceae); (c) *Oncotheca humboldtiana* (Oncothecaceae)</figcaption></figure>

Climate change could affect species richness in New Caledonia as indicated by a recent study estimated that 87–96% of species could decline by 2070 and up to 15% could become extinct (Pouteau and Birnbaum 2016).

and Campbell 2020). The flora of Loyalty Islands is relatively poor (ca. 400 species) compared to the main island, with a small number of endemic species (25–30 species) (Schmid 1969).

## 3.2 A Complex Geological and Biota History

The floristic richness and particularly the supposed archaism of the New Caledonian biota have long been interpreted as a Gondwanan heritage (Holloway 1979; Morat 1993; Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg 1998). However, newer geological evidence demonstrates a complete marine submersion of New Caledonia for a long period of time, after the fragmentation and rifting of Zealandia from Gondwana (Maurizot and Campbell 2020; Pelletier 2006). The main island of New Caledonia (Grande Terre) was completely submerged between 75 and 60 Ma. The landmass is older than 25 Ma, as attested by geological evidence. Emergent land areas probably existed in the Southwest Pacific from 60 to 34 Ma, possibly including some locations on Grande Terre, suggesting a plausible scenario of re-colonization from short- and/or long-distance plant dispersal (Maurizot and Campbell 2020). Overthrusting of oceanic mantle (obduction) occurred at 34 Ma and gave rise to the ultramafic bedrock that, after erosion and fragmentation, covers today about one-third of the surface area (including the Belep Islands and the Isle of Pines). This geological scenario is congruent with recent molecular dating of the crown age of several lineages (Barrabé et al. 2014; Grandcolas et al. 2008; Maurizot and Campbell 2020; Murienne et al. 2005; Nattier et al. 2017; Pillon 2012; Swenson et al. 2014). The geological and biotic history of Grande Terre is certainly more complex than previously thought, and future research on past events will hopefully shed light on the remaining grey areas. The Loyalty Islands are much younger and lower islands, composed of recent uplifted carbonate platform deposits, whose first emergence date back to the Pliocene (Maurizot

## 3.3 Phylogenetic Originalities of the Flora

### 3.3.1 The Emblematic Conifers

The archipelago hosts 47 conifer species (for a total of ca. 650 worldwide), in 13 genera and 4 families (Munzinger et al. 2022), representing 7% of conifers species worldwide. An astonishingly high proportion of conifer species are, however, threatened with extinction (Farjon and Page 1999; Jaffré et al. 2010). Conifers are clearly among the most emblematic trees of New Caledonia, especially the genus *Agathis* (“kaori”) (5 species) and *Araucaria* (14 species out of 20 worldwide) with *Araucaria columnaris* (“Pin colonnaire”), a symbolic tree for the Kanak, producing famous picture-postcard landscapes. The tallest harvested trees reached 60 m on Lifou Island (Schmid 1981). All conifer species are endemics, often narrow endemics (Jaffré 1995) (i.e. occurring in one or widely separated small populations; Drury (1980)). By virtue of their high richness and local abundance in some forests and maquis on ultramafic soils, conifers are emblematic of this substrate in New Caledonia. Most species are indeed distributed on ultramafic rocks (Jaffré et al. 2010). Although they constitute only one-third of the surface of the Grande Terre, these soils are home to 42 conifer species, that is, more than 93% of the species, of which 28 species (62% of the total) are strictly soil endemics.

Among the remarkable examples of conifers found in the island are the unique parasitic species of gymnosperm: *Parasitaxus usta* (Farjon and Page 1999; Feild and Brodribb 2005). The oldest tree so far dated in New Caledonia is an *Agathis ovata* (“mountain kaori”) whose age has been estimated at over 1500 years for a 97-cm-diameter tree
(Enright et al. 2003). Some New Caledonian conifers are also notable for their slow growth. Plant height and diameter (at breath height) growth rate for *Araucaria goroensis* (previously confused with *A. muelleri*) are among the slowest recorded for any tree species (Enright et al. 2014). Some Araucariaceae species are long-lived, slow-growing trees and show long-term persistence in environments ranging from maquis to forest, where they emerge above the canopy (Rigg et al. 2010).

The ascription of the “relictual” or “Gondwanian” attribute to the New Caledonia flora is based, at least in part, on the high concentration of conifers (Jaffré 1995), this group being sister to the more recently derived angiosperms. Conifers indeed dominated the world before the emergence of angiosperms in the Cretaceous. Recent studies, however, indicate that some groups, like *Araucaria*, diversified recently in New Caledonia (Gaudeul et al. 2012; Pillon 2012; Setoguchi et al. 1998).

The rapid diversification of Araucariaceae species may be the result of adaptive radiation of forest conifers on ultramafic substrates in open conditions (Enright et al. 2014; Setoguchi et al. 1998). Conifers succeed and dominate in many habitats, not only where their competitors, angiosperms, have low tolerance and reduced competitive ability (Brodribb et al. 2012). In New Caledonia, with the exception of a few shade-tolerant Podocarp species, most of the species belonging to *Araucaria*, *Agathis*, *Podocarpus*, *Dacrydium* and *Callitris* genera grow in conditions exposed to wind and light, often on the steep slopes of the ultramafic massifs (Jaffré 1995). In some forests on ultramafic soils, conifer species (e.g. *Araucaria* and *Agathis*) may form part of the canopy or are present as emergent. Some species also form emergent layers in the maquis, producing an unusual structural association. Because of their growth dynamics in their ability to develop in full sun, *Araucaria* species are good candidates for the recovery of areas that have been destroyed by fires (Rigg et al. 2010).

### 3.3.2 Basal Angiosperm and Relictual Lineages

Relicts, or the so-called left behind, are species or groups of species remaining from larger and/or more widespread group of organisms in which most taxa are now extinct (Grandcolas et al. 2008). A quirky characteristic of the New Caledonian flora is the diversity of relictual lineages and the presence of numerous early branching lineages, due to their phylogenetic positions (hereafter called “basal angiosperms”). Even if they are not primitive per se, the study of basal angiosperms can provide insightful information for understanding the early stages of flowering plant evolution. Together with relic-

tual lineages, they also constitute good models to understand the biogeography and history of the regional flora.

The most famous lineage of basal angiosperms is represented by *Amborella trichopoda* belonging to the endemic and monospecific family of Amborellaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies indicated that this species is the only extant member of the sister group to all other living flowering plants (APG 2016), and its lineage has been estimated to be at least 160 Ma, in the Early Cretaceous (140–180 My ago) (AmborellaGenomeProject 2013). Considered a “witness of the past” (Poncet et al. 2019), *Amborella* has been the subject of intense studies from a wide range of disciplines (Pillon and Munzinger 2005), since the origin of angiosperms, famously characterized by Charles Darwin as “an abominable mystery”, continue to fuel debates.

In New Caledonia, basal angiosperms are represented by 109 species (90% are endemics) distributed in 22 genera and 10 families (Trueba 2016). Relictual lineages can also be found in other parts of the angiosperm phylogeny. The fact that many endemic genera (26–35, Pillon et al. 2017) are monospecific and most of them have few species is suggestive of declining lineages and extinction events inside formerly diverse clades. This relictual diversity is illustrated by several lineages, such as the mono-generic *Strasburgeria* which is thought to have been widely distributed in the Antarctic region in the early Eocene (Contreras et al. 2013). Other potential examples include the endemic monospecific genera *Paracryphia* (Paracryphiaceae), *Nemuaron* (Atherospermataceae), *Platyspermation* (Alseuosmiaceae) and *Phelline* (Phellinaceae).

## 3.4 Major Radiations and Diversification

A conspicuous feature of many islands is the phenomenon of “adaptive radiation” that implies the diversification of ecological roles, and attendant array of morphological and physiological attributes, from a single colonizer (Givnish et al. 2014). New Caledonia has few examples of dramatic adaptive radiation (Pillon et al. 2017). The largest genera of New Caledonia, in terms of species numbers, are *Phyllanthus* with 108 species, *Psychotria* with 83 species and *Syzygium* with 68 species (Morat et al. 2012; Munzinger et al. 2022). The monophyly (a common ancestor) of these genera is however doubtful (Barrabé et al. 2014; Biffin et al. 2006; Kathriarachchi et al. 2006). To our knowledge, very few examples of adaptive radiation have been highlighted in New Caledonia, and these concern the genus *Geissois* (Cunoniaceae) related to diversification of biochemical strategies on different soils (Pillon et al. 2014) and in the genus *Oxera* (Lamiaceae), where niche shift has been associated with pollination, dispersal and life form traits (Barrabé et al. 2018).
The paucity of large adaptive radiation in New Caledonia is attributed to the fact that the flora is essentially woody. In addition, the age of the main island increases the probability of extinction and colonization within the same groups, along with competition with new migrant species.

## 3.5 Functional and Taxonomic Disharmony

Disharmony is a key concept in island biology that describes the biased representation of higher taxa on islands compared to their mainland source regions. Generally, the disharmony results from taxa having differential colonization success (i.e. selective dispersal) and environmental and/or biotic filtering. As in many island systems, the flora of New Caledonia is strongly disharmonic, with some groups being predominant. In New Caledonia, the disharmony of the flora is often attributed to ultramafic soil conditions, which would have favoured the settlement and diversification of some pre-adapted plant groups (Jaffré et al. 1987; Pillon et al. 2010), while dispersal limitation would have played a less important role (Pillon et al. 2010). Adaptation to ultramafic soils is associated with drought stress, nutrient limitation and high levels of potentially phytotoxic metal, all major sources of stress in ultramafic environments (Isnard et al. 2016; Kazakou et al. 2008). The archipelago is recognized as a hotspot for plants growing on metal-rich soils, as more than 70% of the endemic flora and 63% of species occur on these ultramafic soils (Isnard et al. 2016). The chemical and physical adversity of ultramafic soils has driven some plants into spectacular transformations, remarkably illustrated by the evolution of trace element hyperaccumulation (Jaffré et al. 2018; Paul et al. 2020). The word “hyperaccumulator” was introduced in a publication reporting the extraordinary accumulation of nickel in *Pycnandra accuminata* (formerly *Sebertia*), a New Caledonian endemic tree (Jaffré et al. 1976). The famous “blue sap” species accumulates an astonishing 20–25% nickel in its latex, which is coloured blue-green from nickel complexes. The extremely high level of Ni tolerance is posited to derive from the unique properties and large volume of laticifers (Isnard et al. 2020). The over-representation of groups associated with ultramafic soils might also have been accentuated by the evolution of metal accumulation syndrome in many lineages. A recent study, carried out on herbarium specimens (Herbarium of New Caledonia, NOU), confirmed that New Caledonia is a global hotspot for hyperaccumulator plants, as 3–4% of the dicoty-ledonous flora are Ni hyperaccumulators (Gei et al. 2020). This represents a strong functional disharmony, compared to other regional or worldwide flora.

Ultramafic substrates are not the only driver of the disharmony in the New Caledonian flora, however. The prevalence of several relictual rainforest lineages has been attributed to

a preference for this habitat, and their persistence in climatic refugia, protected from recent major climate-driven extinction events, which have otherwise affected Australia and some nearby South Pacific islands more strongly (Byrne et al. 2011; Pouteau et al. 2015). Several regions of the Pacific where relict angiosperms are also abundant are also recognized as having rainforests that persisted during the late Quaternary through glacial refugia such as in Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Queensland (Byrne et al. 2011; Wurster et al. 2010). The rainforest refugia at the last glacial maximum (LGM, around 23,000–18,000 years BP) of relict angiosperms (Pouteau et al. 2015), including *Amborella* (Poncet et al. 2013), coincide with refugia proposed for palms (Pintaud et al. 2001). The last glacial maximum has been shown to shape the population dynamics of *Amborella trichopoda* and to impact their present intra-specific genetic structure. In New Caledonia, the almost exclusive rainforest distribution of basal angiosperms is explained by wood (xylem) vulnerability to drought-induced embolism (Trueba et al. 2017). Another recently discovered example of functional disharmony concerns the unbranched woody plants (i.e. monocaulous plants or “palm-like”) (Bruy et al. 2018). This growth habit, which has been previously described by botanists studying the New Caledonian flora (Schmid 1990; Veillon 1976), represents ca. 9% of woody flora, belonging to 41 genera, 30 families thus representing an important phylogenetic diversity and a new case of convergent evolution on islands (Bruy et al., unp.data).

## 3.6 Principal Vegetation Types

The vegetation of New Caledonia has been described by numerous authors (Jaffré 2022a; Jaffré et al. 2012; Morat et al. 1981; Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg 1998; Virot 1956). The following treatment is based on the last synthesis of these works, published in the Atlas of New Caledonia (Jaffré et al. 2012) (Fig. 3.2).

The landscape is a mosaic of secondary vegetation (c. 50%); low- to mid-elevation shrublands or “maquis” found on ultramafic substrates (c. 25%), including ca. 50 km² of wetland and marshes of the Plaine des Lacs; and another quarter of low- to mid-elevation rainforests growing on various substrates. There is also ca. 1% of montane rainforests and shrublands found above 800 m. This mosaic also includes few relictual patches of dry sclerophyllous forests scattered along the west coast on volcano-sedimentary rocks.

The floristic diversity of New Caledonia is unevenly distributed over less than two-thirds of the archipelago, mainly in forests and maquis on ultramafic rocks. On the basis of their very contrasting floristic compositions, two main types of vegetation can be distinguished. Vegetation is dominated by introduced species with very few endemics, referred to as “modified vegetation” and vegetation termed “autochthonous
<figure><img src="image_10.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 3.2** Simplified vegetation map illustrating the main vegetation types. (Modified from Jaffré et al. 2012)</figcaption></figure>

vegetation”, whose flora is mostly composed of native species with a high proportion of endemic species. The frequency and distribution of vegetation result from a dynamic process particularly influenced by human activities (Ibanez et al. 2013; Morat et al. 1981; Stevenson et al. 2001).

### 3.6.1 The Modified Vegetation

The modified vegetation contributes poorly to the diversity and originality of the flora but comprises species traditionally used by local populations for various practices related to traditional medicine as well as domestic purposes (Lormée et al. 2011; Rageau and Schmid 1973). The modified vegetation covers about 7000 km², more than one-third of the Archipelago, and mostly includes savannas and secondary thickets, with a total of ca. 400 native species of vascular plants and an endemic rate of only 11% (Jaffré et al. 2009). Less than five endemic species are found exclusively in this vegetation type. A significant proportion of the 2000 inventoried introduced species occurs in the modified vegetation (Hequet et al. 2009), including about 360 naturalized species. Some species that frequently dominate the secondary thickets, “Lantana” (*Lantana camara*), “Goyavier” (*Psidium guajava*) and “False mimosa” (*Leucaena leucocephala*), are very prolific and competitive in degraded habitats and described as invasive because of their wide coverage and ecological and/or socio-economic impacts (Meyer et al. 2006).

Widely represented from sea level to 600–700 m, except on ultramafic substrate, savannas are characterized by a continuous grass layer with a discontinuous shrub or tree cover, most often the autochthonous “niaouli” (*Melaleuca quinque nervia*). The expansion of the modified vegetation results from the destruction of an initial vegetation cover, since human arrivals from about 3000 year BP, under the effect of repeated fires as well as clearing for crops and livestock (Ibanez 2012; Schroers and Tron 2013; Virot 1956). The process of expansion and contraction of forests and savannas is principally driven by bush fires, locally depending on climate, humidity, wind strength and direction, and the quantity of combustible plant matter (fuel) (Ibanez et al. 2013). *Pinus caribaea*, introduced in the 1960s in New Caledonia for timber exploitation, has now a distribution that exceeds areas used for forestry. This species frequently invades modified vegetation (savanna and maquis) and is considered as one of the most threatening non-native species (Hequet et al. 2009; Kohler 1984).
**3.6.2 Natural Vegetation**

**3.6.2.1 Low- to Mid-Elevation Rainforests on Various Substrates**

Rainforests on ultramafic substrates are a unique ecosystem and under severe threat with more than 75% of the original cover already destroyed (Jaffré et al. 1998). Forests survive as scarce remnant fragments scattered in a matrix of maquis (Mc Coy et al. 1999) (Fig. 3.3c). Most forest fragments are under direct threat from mining activity (Ibanez et al. 2017b, 2019). Forests on volcano-sedimentary rocks on the east coast are principally threatened by fire, clearing and introduced species (deer, pig and *Pinus caribaea*) (Schroers and Tron 2013).

Rainforests cover about 3900 km² in areas with mean annual rainfall between 1300 and 3500 mm (Jaffré et al. 2012). They occur at low altitude in the Loyalty Islands and the Isle of Pines and from 300 m up to 900–1000 m on the main island, where they extend discontinuously along the central mountain range. On isolated massifs, rainforests are usually confined to steep slopes and high valleys. In the southern massif, rainforests occur below 300 m where annual rainfall exceeds 1600 mm, for example, along the rivers. The dense humid forests of New Caledonia are found on acidic rock types (volcano-sedimentary and metamorphic) cover-

ing 1800 km², on ultramafic rocks covering 1200 km² and on limestone rocks covering 900 km² principally in the Loyalty Islands and Isle of Pines (Jaffré et al. 1997).

The rainforest is the richest native flora, at all taxonomic levels with ca. 2100 species of vascular plants (endemicity of 83.2%), belonging to 474 genera and 135 families (Morat et al. 2012; Munzinger et al. 2022. [continuously updated]).

Rainforests on volcano-sedimentary and ultramafic substrates, with about 1360 species and endemic rates of, respectively, 76% and 82%, are more diversified than the limestone forest that principally occurs on the Loyalty Islands and Isle of Pines and harbours only 225 species with an endemic rate of 48% (Jaffré et al. 1997). A Permanent Plot Network (NC-PIPPN) was set up in 2005 and currently consists of 220 plots of 0.04 ha) (20 × 20 m) and 21 1-ha plots, located on the main island (Birnbaum et al. 2015; Ibanez et al. 2014). The network is intensively used in ecological studies and provide a comparative framework with other regional or worldwide flora. High species richness and floristic dissimilarity recorded from the plots confirm that New Caledonian mixed rainforest is exceptionally rich (Ibanez et al. 2014; Jaffré 1993). Rainforest species exhibit a strong spatial aggregation, thought to express limited dispersal ability (Birnbaum et al. 2015). The flora on ultramafic versus volcano-sedimentary soils are dissimilar from species to

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 3.3** Illustrations of New Caledonian landscapes. (a) *Araucaria columnaris* (“Pin colonnaire”) growing at the edge of the sea, Prony, South of Grande-Terre; (b) Tall maquis containing abundant *Gymnostoma deplancheanum* trees, col. de Yaté; (c) Remnant fragment</figcaption></figure>

of rain forest on ultramafic substrate scattered in a matrix of maquis and burned vegetation; (d) Rainforest-Savana interface, with savanna composed of *Melaleuca quinquenervia* (in the foreground), South of Grande-Terre (Thio). (Photo credit: A & C, Jean-Michel Boré, IRD)
family level (Ibanez et al. 2014), while the number of species on both substrates (ca. 1300 species) and endemicity (76–82%) is fairly similar (Jaffré et al. 1997). The presence of highly heterogeneous soils combined with altitudinal and rainfall gradients is the main driver of the floristic dissimilarity (Ibanez et al. 2014).

Large-scale disturbances (cyclone and fire) have a strong influence on the composition and structure of the forests. By producing large canopy openings, large-scale disturbances play a crucial role in regeneration dynamics. They favour some monodominant and gregarious species including *Nothofagus* spp. (*Nothofagaceae*), *Arillastrum gummiferum* (*Myrtaceae*), *Cerberiopsis candelabra* (*Apocynaceae*), *Gymnostoma deplancheanum* (*Casuarinaceae*) and *Codia mackeana* (*Cunoniaceae*) (Demenois et al. 2017; Ibanez and Birnbaum 2014; Mc Coy et al. 1999; Read and Jaffré 2013; Read et al. 2008). These long-lived, shade-intolerant trees are commonly secondary species but appear unable to maintain dominance in the absence of disturbance at low to mid-altitudes. Progression to mixed canopy forest is predicted in the absence of disturbance (Demenois et al. 2017; Mc Coy et al. 1999; Read and Jaffré 2013), for which there is some evidence in the Quaternary pollen record (Hope and Pask 1998).

In comparison with other rainforests in the Southwest Pacific, New Caledonian rainforests exhibit high average density (1253 stems ha⁻<fnref n="1" />) including abundant palms and tree ferns, with the abundance of the latter being unparalleled outside New Caledonia (Ibanez et al. 2014, 2017a). New Caledonia rainforests are also distinctive for their low mean canopy height (ca. 16 m) (Blanchard et al. 2016). The frequent tropical cyclones affecting New Caledonia explain much about the structure of its rainforest (Blanchard et al. 2016; Ibanez et al. 2017a). In these forests, lianas diversity is low, and they represent only ca. 8% of the woody autochthonous flora (Isnard and Bruy, submitted). Lianas could be disadvantaged in low canopy forests with large-scale disturbances, as their diversity is known to be maintained by small-scale disturbances (canopy gaps) and they grow preferentially in tall and heterogeneous forests.

### 3.6.2.2 Montane Forests and Altitudinal Maquis

Maximum elevation is rarely above 1600 m, but mountain forests are found above 900–1000 m and sometimes at only 700–800 m on the windward rainy coast, where areas more than 3500–4000 mm of rain can fall per year (Nasi et al. 2002). The mountain flora of New Caledonia is characterized by a very high endemicity and by a specific richness in some original groups. Mountain maquis and low forests often have emergent conifers. Among the 47 conifer species occurring in New Caledonia, 33 extend to mountain ranges (Nasi et al. 2002). The flora, although impoverished in comparison to lower altitudinal forest, host several species of the endemic

families Phellinaceae as well as most basal angiosperm lineages (Pouteau et al. 2020). The palms and tree ferns (Cyatheaceae, Dicksoniaceae) are also well represented. Climbing secondary hemi-epiphytes (e.g. *Freycinetia*) are abundant in some forests at high altitude and can replace liana whose abundance decreases with altitude, probably as a result of climate niche differentiation (Bruy et al. 2017). Some cloud forests have additional original vegetation, because of their frequent cloud presence, low light transmission, cool temperatures and reduced vapor pressure deficit (Brunijnzeel et al. 2010). The low canopy forest (6–10 m) (“forêt à mousse”) has a low diversity among the angiosperms and gymnosperm flora. It is however rich in lichens, bryophytes and ferns (Hymenophyllaceae).

### 3.6.2.3 Tropical Dry Forest

Tropical dry forests (TDF or “forêt sèche”) around the world consist of various plant associations. They can be loosely defined as forest in frost-free regions with 500–2000 mm of annual rainfall and a pronounced dry season of 4–7 months (Holdridge 1971). In New Caledonia, dry forests extend across areas with average annual rainfall below 1200 mm, very commonly below 1000 mm and episodically less than 800 mm, essentially on the western side and in the northern part of the main island. Dry forest occurs on sedimentary rocks (phtanites, sandstone, various sedimentary rock layers, limestones) or more rarely on basalts (Jaffré et al. 1993). It does not occur on ultramafic rocks where the edaphic conditions exert the major influence over the floristic composition (Jaffré et al. 1993; Morat et al. 1981).

Tropical dry forest in New Caledonia is highly endangered (Gillespie et al. 2014). It has been reduced to <2% of its original extent in New Caledonia due to land clearance, cattle ranching and fire (Bouchet et al. 1995). Dry forest is also threatened by introduced species including *Leucaena leucocephala* (“faux mimosa”), *Acacia farnesiana* (“casis”), several Poaceae and a few autochthonous species such as *Casuarina collina* (“bois de fer”), *Acacia spirorbis* (“gaïac”) or *Trophis scandens* (“liane feu”), which prevent regeneration of native forest species (Bouchet et al. 1995; Jaffré et al. 2008). This critical situation led to studies of these forests, beginning in the late 1980s (Jaffré et al. 1993, 2008) and the inception in 2001 of an action programme dedicated to the preservation of dry forests (“dry forest programme”) (Mansourian et al. 2018) today managed by the “Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels”.<fnref n="1" />

The dry forests are today restricted to small, more or less degraded, forest fragments totalling about 350 km². About 350 autochthonous vascular plants have been recorded, comprising 60% of endemic species (Jaffré et al. 2012; Morat et al. 2012). These forests are strongly marked by a physiog-

<footnote n="1">¹http://www.cen.nc/foret-seche</footnote>
nomic and floristic heterogeneity, with species richness rang-
ing between 10 and 70 species and endemicity rates ranging
from 20% to 60% according to plant associations (Jaffré
et al. 2008). Plant association varies with canopy openings
created by the deer introduced in the 1800s, *Rusa timorensis*
(De Garine-Wichatitsky et al. 2005), and the degradation or
invasion by gregarious species (Gillespie et al. 2014; Jaffré
et al. 2008).

Of relatively recent origin, the dry forests share major flo-
ristic affinities with Australia (Jaffré et al. 1993). Dry forests
do not contain palms or conifers (Jaffré et al. 1993) and very
few species belonging to basal angiosperm lineages.

New Caledonia's tropical dry forests contain significantly lower species richness than mainland tropical dry forests in biodiversity hotspots. Among Pacific islands, New Caledonia and Fiji harbour the highest native species richness followed by Hawaii, the Marianas and the Marquesas, while New Caledonia and Hawaii have the highest endemism (Gillespie and Jaffré 2003). Family composition is relatively similar to that of neotropical dry forests; however, there is no consistently dominant family of trees within Pacific dry forests. There is very little overlap at the species level among regions (Gillespie and Jaffré 2003).

3.6.2.4 Maquis

In New Caledonia, the maquis refers to all non-forest vegeta-
tion on ultramafic substrates (peridotites and serpentinites).
The maquis flora harbours about 1140 species of vascular
plants, of which more 90% are endemic to New Caledonia
(Morat et al. 2012). At least 840 species are restricted to this
vegetation type, whose 96.9% are endemic (Isnard et al.
2016). The richness of the maquis is particularly remarkable
considering the relatively small area covered (4300–
4400 km²). The soil provides an ecological barrier against
most introduced species (with the exception of the Caribbean
pine), and invasive introduced species do not grow spontane-
ously in the maquis because of edaphic constrains. Most
maquis species are poor competitors and do not establish in
vegetation on more fertile substrates (Jaffré 1980; Jaffré
et al. 1987).

The maquis of New Caledonia is strongly heteroge-
neous – floristically and physiognomically – and ranges from
shrubby, evergreen, sclerophyllous to cyperoid vegetation
depending on soil properties (Isnard et al. 2016; Jaffré
2022a). These soils are deficient in phosphorus, potassium
and calcium and frequently abnormally rich in nickel, man-
ganese, chromium and cobalt, as well as in magnesium for
serpentinite soils (Isnard et al. 2016; Jaffré 2022b). The
maquis develop in climatic conditions from sea level, in the
driest areas of the west coast, to the highest mountain with
annual rainfall exceeding 3000 mm. The vast majority of
maquis results from the destruction of forest by repeated
fires, as fire facilitates the propagation of maquis species.

Palynological studies, carried out on the southern plateau of
Grande Terre, revealed that natural fires have been wide-
spread on the island over at least 130,000 years, thus before
the arrival of humans (Stevenson and Hope 2005). The envi-
ronmental instability during the Pleistocene played an
important role in forest disturbance ecology and caused
major vegetation changes in the Austral-Asian region (Hope
et al. 2004). In New Caledonia, drier conditions probably
increased fuel loads and the vegetation experienced recurrent
cycles of destruction by fire favouring the expansion of open
maquis followed by forest reconstitution (Stevenson et al.
2001). Some maquis, currently persisting in more or less
degraded forms, originally occupied the ridges exposed
above 800–1000 m, as well as the drier areas at the base of
the massifs, in the form of stunted dry forests (Jaffré 2022a).

Mainly represented in the extreme south of Grande Terre,
on about 250 km², the maquis on hydromorphic soils (flood-
ing temporary to permanent) is relatively poor (ca. 40 spe-
cies) but contains a very specialized association of species
adapted to hydromorphic conditions and frequent periods of
submersion (Jaffré 1980). The herbaceous layer is composed
of Cyperaceae. The most characteristic species of the shrubby
vegetation include several species of the genera *Pancheria*
and *Cunonia* (Cunoniaceae), *Cloezia*, *Melaleuca*,
*Xanthostemon* (Myrtaceae), *Styphelia* (Ericaceae), *Grevillea*
and *Stenocarpus* (Proteaceae). The riverbanks are home to
few shrubs, belonging to *Pandanus* (Pandanaceae),
*Serianthes* (Fabaceae), *Gymnostoma* (Casuarinaceae) and
two very rare conifers, *Retrophyllum minus* and *Dacrydium
guillauminii*. Although fairly homogenous, wetland maquis
contain several species with restricted distribution, listed on
the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Their conserva-
tion in areas rich in lateritic minerals remains challenging
but requires adequate conservatory actions considering the
terrestrial plant originality and the specialized fauna and
flora of the aquatic zones (L’Huillier et al. 2010).

Several features of New Caledonian maquis (high level of
micro-endemism, nutritional specialization) suggest that this
vegetation might qualify as an OCBIL (old climatically buff-
ered and infertile landscape) (Pillon et al. 2021), suggesting
that analogous conservation models could apply there.

3.6.2.5 Mangroves

The mangroves of New Caledonia occupy more than
35,000 ha, including ca. 9000 ha of salt flats and *Sarcocornia*
salt marshes, and another ca. 26,000 ha of tree and shrub
stands. Due to the coastal morphology, the great majority
(88%) of mangroves are located on the west coast (Virly
2006). The flora of mangrove forests of New Caledonia
includes 24 Indo-Pacific taxa, comprising 15 genera from 13
plant families (Duke 2007). Floristic composition and rich-
ness differ between the two coasts with highest richness on
the east coast. The zonation is typical of semi-arid coastlines:
*Rhizophora* spp. are predominant in 50% of mangrove areas colonizing the seashore and *Avicennia marina* in >15% developing at the edge of salt flats (Virly 2006). Contrary to the rest of New Caledonian flora, the mangrove flora has stronger affinities with Asian mangrove.

Large amount of trace metals (Ni, Cr, Co) can be depos-
ited in mangrove sediments (Marchand et al. 2012) as a
result of natural erosion and sedimentation along the coast-
line that can be strongly amplified by open-cast mining
activities (Fernandez et al. 2006). Studies assessing the
impact of Ni mining on the downstream ecosystem showed
that Ni concentrations are 10 to 100 times higher than in
other New Caledonian mangroves. Mangroves might be a
buffer between mining on land and the world's largest lagoon
(> 20,000 km²) (Marchand et al. 2016).

3.7 Conclusion

New Caledonia hosts a terrestrial plant biodiversity of unde-
niable importance, and this is widely and internationally rec-
ognized. The remarkable and idiosyncratic flora of the
archipelago results from historical and environmental con-
tingencies occurring on an old, large, isolated and heteroge-
neous island. Varying environmental conditions and recent
climatic fluctuations have shaped the current original phylo-
genetic composition, after disharmonies resulting from plant
colonization, and have promoted the endemism of the flora.
In situ radiation and adaptation after colonization, often
repeated within the same group, have led to the diversity of
plant lineages. The adaptive and evolutionary responses of
the flora to future global and local changes remain
uncertain.

Recent advances in molecular and functional biology have
showed that the originality of the flora is not only because of
the large number of species or their endemicity. The idiosyn-
cratic character of New Caledonia also comes from the phy-
logenetic diversity and originality of the flora and its
functional and ecological diversity. These functional features
related to plant morphology, anatomy and physiology are
sometimes unique to New Caledonia or relatively well repre-
sented on the islands compared to flora worldwide.

Throughout its history, which might have begun
37,000,000 years ago, the vegetation of New Caledonia has
experienced phases of stability, as well as successive phases
of regression and expansion, accompanied by vegetation and
floristic changes. The most recent change since the arrival of
humankind 3000 years BP is undeniably anthropogenic:
alteration of the vegetation cover and biodiversity loss. This
decline has grown in pace with the expansion of agriculture,
logging and industrial development, mostly from mining,

which began in 1873 (see L'Huillier et al. (2010)). Human
activity has resulted in land clearing, construction of access
roads (to assess or to exploit resources) and an increase in the
frequency of fire and the spread of invasive species. The
increase in mining activity has certainly led to the irrevers-
able destruction of plant cover and associated flora.
Particularly important is the ultramafic substrate ("terrain
minier") where nickel ores are found: it covers a third of the
surface of Grande Terre but globally only 3-5% of the earth.
Fire may destroy more vegetation than mining, but open-cast
extraction is not followed by secondary or self-suffection. In
addition, surface mining or the storage of excavated material
can wipe out relics of maquis and forests, currently saved
from fires because of their topographical and microclimatic
conditions. Mining activity can thus give the *coup de grace*
to forest relics or small populations already endangered
(Jaffré et al. 2010).

The originality and the complexity of New Caledonia's
plant biodiversity require the implementation of specific
conservation measures, including the rescue of rare and
threatened species evaluated under IUCN criteria (Read List
Authority, RLA-Flore NC, http://endemia.nc) and the pro-
tection of sites with micro-endemics (Narrow Endemic
Species Hotspot, see Wulff et al. (2013)).

The risks of loss of terrestrial biodiversity cannot be eval-
uated based on species extinction risk alone. It is important,
as advocated in other regions of the world and in a recent
article by Ibanez et al. (2019), to set more ambitious objec-
tives including the protection of habitats representative of the
different environmental, soil and climate conditions and sup-
porting populations (not just rare species) with genetic diver-
sity. It is also important to identify and protect potential
future refuge areas that would be less likely to be impacted
by climate change. A better consideration of the preservation
of the phylogenetic diversity should also be implemented
with priority given to lineages that are only or preferentially
represented in New Caledonia. In addition, the potential of
innovative technologies and useful resources for societies
remains understudied. Recent discoveries are encouraging,
including in metal chemistry (“ecological catalysts” for
chemistry) (Grison and Lock Toy Ki 2021; Losfeld et al.
2012), for new sources of natural dyes (Toussirot et al. 2012)
or the medical value of plants (Coulerie et al. 2013; Hnawia
et al. 2008; Lormée et al. 2011). New Caledonia has much to
contribute to the understanding of plant evolution and island
biogeography, but also for society, and should be at the cen-
tre of conservation concerns.

**Acknowledgements** We are grateful to Yohan Pillon and an anony-
mous reviewer for their comments that help improve the manuscript.
We also thank Simon Batterbury for his detailed proofreading.
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