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A first-ever gathering of turtle practitioners from French territories all around the world was organised in Paris at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) from 20-22 January, under the banner « Bilan et perspectives des programmes de recherche et de conservation ».
Participants hailed from familiar territories in the Indian Ocean, such as La Réunion, and extended as far afield as Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (close to eastern Canada) and French Polynesia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Indeed, the wide geographic coverage was among the meeting’s strengths. The exclusive focus on French-speaking territories permitted more in-depth presentation and discussion than would normally happen in a large international gathering.
.jpg) The meeting was held in the museum’s impressive Grande Galerie de l’Evolution and benefitted from organisational and/or financial support from the Groupe Tortues Marine France (GTMF), the Société Herpétologique de France (SHF) and the French Ministère de l’Ecologie, de l’Energie, du Développement Durable et de la Mer (MEEDDM).
Jean Lescure and Sophie Bedel (SHF/MNHN), Françoise Claro (who coordinates the GTMF) and Martine Bigan (who serves as the IOSEA Focal Point for France), were among the organisers of the successful conference. All told, there were close to 100 participants, including a number of individuals familiar to the IOSEA community – such as Stephane Ciccione (Kelonia / La Réunion), Jérôme Bourjea (IFREMER / La Réunion) – and Jacques Fretey, involved for many years in turtle work under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species. Click here to enlarge the group photograph.
The conference covered a wide range of topics, including turtle behaviour and ecology, research and monitoring, conservation interventions, storage and analysis of data, interactions with fisheries, legislative regimes etc,
IOSEA Coordinator, Douglas Hykle, was one of a small number of foreign participants invited to attend the conference. A special workshop/dinner was organised on the evening of 20 January, devoted exclusively to considerations concerning France’s participation in the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU. The discussions touched on benefits from and substantive contributions to various IOSEA databases, tools and programmes; national reporting as a vehicle for information exchange and priority-setting among the French territories; and broader French support for IOSEA activities and operations. It was suggested that La Réunion, which hosted a major WIOMSA symposium last August, would be an ideal venue for a future meeting of IOSEA Signatory States – something to be explored in the weeks and months ahead.
On the final day of the workshop, Mr. Hykle gave a (rare) presentation in French that offered a unique perspective on marine turtle conservation activities throughout the wider IOSEA region.
All in all, the gathering in Paris was extremely interesting and informative; and credit is due to Jean Lescure and other convenors for having brought it to fruition. Hopefully, the event will be repeated periodically in a similar format in years to come.
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