The Réunion integrated natural environment conservation and restoration project wins an ecological engineering prize

Event 19 November 2024
The Réunion integrated natural environment conservation and restoration project and the players involved have been awarded the Prix national du Génie Écologique 2024 (2024 national ecological engineering prize), organized by the Association fédérative des acteurs de l’Ingénierie et du Génie Écologique (A-IGÉco) and the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), in the category for management practices that foster biodiversity. A delegation from the Réunion National Park and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) Regional Office for Réunion- Mayotte-Indian Ocean will be attending the official ceremony at the Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering Exhibition in Paris. Jean-Philippe Delorme, Director of the Réunion National Park, will be presenting the integrated project on Tuesday 19 November and will receive the prize on Wesdnesday 20 November, on behalf of the project.
© Marion Dailloux, CIRAD

© Marion Dailloux, CIRAD

The Réunion integrated natural environment conservation and restoration project is a collective territorial project with the ambitious objective of reversing the trend of biodiversity loss in Réunion, notably as a result of pressure from invasive plants.
The specificity of its management methods lies in the lively partnership between various key players in the territory, centring on a dedicated R&D hub, in order to conduct coordinated operations tailored to the scale of the island.

Birth of the Réunion integrated natural environment conservation and restoration project

In 2018, the French State, the Departmental Council, the Office national des Forêts (ONF), the Conservatoire botanique de Mascarin (CBNM), the Direction de l'environnement, de l'aménagement et du logement (DEAL Réunion), the CIRAD Regional Office for Réunion-Mayotte-Indian Ocean, the University of Réunion and the Réunion National Park set up a working group that served to identify 55 000 ha of zones with conservation issues, of which more than 5000 ha called for priority control and restoration measures. This made it possible to update knowledge of the state of conservation of natural environments in the light of the advent of invasive plants, and to begin talks on a restoration strategy. A new operational plan of action was drafted in 2019, covering more than 1000 ha of interventions.

As part of the Réunion integrated natural environment conservation and restoration project, an operational hub co-headed by the Réunion National Park and CIRAD and with financial support from the Fonds Vert is now coordinating a range of programmes aimed at taking effective collective action to foster biodiversity. Coordinated pooling of knowledge and strategic, human, technical and financial resources by players with real capacity to act has multiplied the possibilities of restoring natural environments in Réunion.

Biological invasions are a real problem in Réunion because they are accentuating the decline of our natural heritage. However, they are also an opportunity in that they are enabling us to build a regional reference centre for habitat restoration and an economic value chain that will provide a wide range of career prospects.
Jean-Philippe Delorme
Director, Réunion National Park

This project set out to be an operational translation and a scaling-up of activities that were previously geared towards controlling invasive exotic plants, steering them towards a more sustainable, ambitious restoration of natural environments in Réunion. ReMiNat is also the translation of a harmonious, strong partnership with the Réunion National Park and the entire range of natural environment managers on the island.
Eric Jeuffrault
CIRAD Regional Director for Réunion-Mayotte-Indian Ocean

The aims of the national ecological engineering prize

Since 2014, the Association fédérative des acteurs de l'Ingénierie et du Génie écologiques (A-IGÉco) and the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), in partnership with the Direction de l'Eau de la Biodiversité at the French Ministry for Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention, have been organizing a national ecological engineering prize.

For this fifth edition, the co-organizers have joined up with Plante & Cité for a special "urban environments" prize, and are organizing a prizegiving event at the Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering Exhibition, during the Salon des Maires et des collectivités locales in Paris.

The aim of the prize is to recognize collective ecological engineering projects that set an example in terms of their design, the techniques used, and their integration into the local socioeconomic context, and that encompass the entire range of ecological engineering principles. The aim is to promote expertise in this field and foster its development.
 

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