Biodiversity Management in a Mediterranean National Park: The Long, Winding Path from a Species-Centred to an Ecosystem-Centred Approach

Abstract

The Port-Cros National Park (PCNP), established in 1963, was one of the earliest terrestrial and marine parks in the Mediterranean Sea. From 2012, it engaged in a major redefinition and extension of its territory (N-PCNP—New Port-Cros National Park). This case is particularly interesting insofar as the protected area has been competently and efficiently managed since its creation, and protection and management measures have been strictly implemented: in the Mediterranean, the PCNP has often been considered as a benchmark. Here, we critically analyse almost 60 years of the management of the biodiversity and the human uses, with their share of successes and failures, certain operations which are today regarded as errors, and a doctrine today of a priori non-interventionism, in contrast to the doctrine in vogue in the early years. Of particular interest is the change in outlook with regard to actions favouring flagship species, such as building a tower for bats, setting up artificial nests for seabirds, and constructing an artificial reef at sea. The question of the natural arrival of the wild boar, a native species, and the hostility of the public and some species-centred scientists, is particularly instructive. We analyse these changes in the light of the ongoing trends in concepts in ecology and nature conservation, and the shift from a species-centred to an ecosystem-centred approach. It is worth emphasizing that a critical review of almost 60 years of management is a very rare exercise in a national park anywhere in the world.

Diversity of Marine and Brackish Macrophytes in the Port-Cros National Park (Provence, France, Mediterranean Sea): Taxa and Research Effort over Space and Time

“…We have examined all of the literature dealing with marine macrophytes of the N-PCNP that we are aware of. This literature has been published in scientific journals (including the PCNP journal, Scientific Reports of Port-Cros National Park, 35 volumes of which have been published since its launch in 1975); it also includes unpublished reports (grey literature), kept at the PCNP headquarters (in Hyères-les-Palmiers) and in various libraries, including that of the Macrophyte platform of the MIO (Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography), at Aix-Marseille University [5,16]. Whenever publications clearly constitute duplicates (e.g., a report, a communication at a congress and the corresponding scientific article, or two articles strictly based on the same dataset), for example [24,25], or [26,27], we considered only one of them.…”

“…In addition, the research effort in the AMA of the N-PCNP has been particularly strong (see Section 4.3), which would imply that exceptionally high numbers of taxa might be expected. This may disappoint those who, on the basis of an old conception of biodiversity (see e.g., [5] for criticism), believe that a national park necessarily harbours high gamma species diversity, and that only high species diversity deserves to be protected. For the tiny Isole dei Ciclopi (Sicily) and the Principality of Monaco (French Riviera), 380 and 365 taxa and stages have been reported, respectively (Table 1).…”

“…In addition to the land areas of the island and islets, the PCNP included a 600 m wide belt of sea, corresponding to ~1300 ha in surface area, surrounding the archipelago. The PCNP is one of the oldest terrestrial and marine national parks in the Mediterranean area [4,5].…”

“…Following the reconfiguration of the national parks by the French legislation of 2006, the PCNP engaged, between 2012 and 2016, in a major redefinition and extension of its territory; the new Port-Cros National Park (N-PCNP), established in 2016 (Figure 1), includes the Port-Cros Archipelago and Porquerolles Island as core areas (both terrestrial and marine), a vast adjacent marine area (AMA) including the gulfs of Giens and Hyères and extending seawards to the edge of the continental shelf (118,600 ha), and a discontinuous continental area, the adhesion area (AA) including five municipalities (communes in French; Figure 1). The municipalities of the AA have voluntarily joined the N-PCNP through the signing of a charter which defines the objectives of the national park regarding the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage and sustainable development [5,6]. Some other municipalities of the possible adhesion area (PAA) chose not to join the N-PCNP.…”

“…In contrast with paper parks and mist parks, the PCNP, then the N-PNPC, are true protected Some protected areas in the Mediterranean, especially marine protected areas (MPAs), are no more than 'paper parks', i.e., fictitious protected areas, or 'mist parks', i.e., protected areas intended to fulfill the international commitments of states, often immense, having a real existence (director, premises, officials), but not implementing any real management measures involving, where necessary, constraints for some of the users [7][8][9][10][11][12]. In contrast with paper parks and mist parks, the PCNP, then the N-PNPC, are true protected areas [5,13]: in particular, since their creation, they have had a scientific council, a scientific strategy, a management plan, a strong scientific research effort based on the close collaboration between park staff and independent academic scientists, and of course the strict application of management measures which constitute constraints for some users whenever necessary [12][13][14][15][16].…”