Progress report for
Achievement at a glance
The voluntary commitment "New Caledonia Towards Sustainable Blue Growth" considers the maritime facts of a tropical Pacific archipelago with an economy that was only based upon land nickel mines. Those maritime facts are expressed by a world-wide recognized marine biodiversity hot spot (shallow and deep sea), including a 1.500.000 km2 Marine Park on the Coral Sea and more than 15.000 km2 of lagoon and coral reefs recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site . They are also based upon an unique marine geo-diversity (including a part of a submerged continent : Zelandia, shared with Australia and NZ) and a marine geostrategic position which explains, for such a small territory of less than 300.000 inhabitants, the development of 26 maritime activities sectors. Those sectors range from fisheries to aquaculture, maritime transport, marine tourism, Cruise industry, maritime repair, biotechnologies, management challenges, Spatial Marine planification needs, marine renewable energies and energy transition questions, coastal erosion and coastal engineering, land activities impacts on lagoons and reefs, marine natural patrimony conservation, natural hazards impacts, sea level rise, marine Sciences and innovation, new technologies applications as submarine digital connexions, marine and maritime culture etc... That's why, facing so heavy challenges in sustainable Blue Growth challenges, a Maritime Cluster, federating the know-hows has been set up three years ago.
