The French Initiative for Coral Reefs (IFRECOR) is in charge of registering and diffusing every action linked to IYOR 2018 in France’s metropolitan and overseas territories. It is also responsible for the coordination of events of national scale throughout the IYOR 2018, the IFRECOR’s endeavour has been to reach a diverse audience including the general public, scholastic, scientific, and socio-professionals.
As a part of this effort to reach a varied audience, this parliamentary event targets members of the French Senate. The objective is to make a plea for the protection of coral reefs among French senators. An identical “mirror” event took place in the French National Assembly to address MP’s on October the 17th.
Three speakers will address an estimated 40 MP’s as follows :
- Pascale Joannot (MNHN) will represent the French scientific community and will reiterate the value and threats posed to coral reefs.
- Isabelle Terrier, chief of environment ministry’s office for evaluation and protection of marine environments, will present the governmental actions to preserve corals since the creation of the IFRECOR 18 years ago.
- Sébastien Mabile, president of UICN France’s environmental policy and law commission, will present the legal framework and juridic tools to preserve coral reefs (this will be the main subject of the event).
French overseas territories cover around 10% of global coral reefs, which means France has a global responsibility to protect these biodiversity treasures. By bringing a scientific expertise, the IFRECOR hopes to draw decision makers around coral ecosystem conservation. However, the overseas territories have various degrees of autonomy from France’s national government and law, creating a complex system in which implementation of coral conservation policies is difficult. That is why a lecture and debate on juridic means to protect coral reefs can foster much-needed conservation policies for coral reefs.
This event was organized in close collaboration with senators Jérôme Bignon (Somme) and Michel Magras (Saint Barthélemy). The UICN France, a member of the IFRECOR, also played a major role in the organisation of this event as a part of France’s IYOR 2018 national actions.