Species-based or ecosystem-based approaches to conservation pratices: Lessons from the Port-Cros National Park (south-east France, Mediterranean Sea).

Charles-François Boudouresque (1) , Frédéric Médail (2) , Philippe Ponel (2) , Patrick Astruch (3) , Alain Barcelo , Aurelie Blanfuné (1) , T. Changeux (1) , Pierre Chevaldonné (2) , G. Cheylan (4) , Laurence Ledireach (5) , Gilles Martin (6) , C. Moussay (4) , Marion Peirache (7) , Michèle Perret-Boudouresque (1) , Sandrine Ruitton (1) , Isabelle Taupier-Letage (1) , Thierry Thibaut (1)

1 MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie
2 IMBE - Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale
3 OSU PYTHEAS - Institut Pythéas
4 OOB - Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls
5 DIMAR - Diversité, évolution et écologie fonctionnelle marine
6 GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion
7 PROTEE - Processus de Transfert et d'Echanges dans l'Environnement - EA 3819

For almost 60 years, the management policy of the Port-Cros National Park (PCNP) has steadily progressed, in phase with human impacts, changes in doctrines and goals in the field of nature conservation, what was socially acceptable at a given time, a very active Scientific Council and a gradual shift from species-centered to ecosystem-based management. Here, we illustrate problems faced by a national park, together with responses or practices that are suited, or not, to an ecosystem-based approach. PCNP’s doctrine has been to explain that the abundance of species fluctuates naturally, and that we must not be too hasty to intervene, that nature sometimes does things better than humans, that a national park is neither a zoo nor a botanical garden, and the purpose is not to artificially increase the species diversity. The management approach of the PCNP can constitute a source of lessons for nature protection and management.

Mots clés: BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS; CONSERVATION; CONTROL OF INVASIVE SPECIES; NATIONAL PARK; MANAGEMENT; ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH; MEDITERRANEAN NATIONAL PAR

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie; Ecosystèmes

Charles-François Boudouresque, Frédéric Médail, Philippe Ponel, Patrick Astruch, Alain Barcelo, et al.. Species-based or ecosystem-based approaches to conservation pratices: Lessons from the Port-Cros National Park (south-east France, Mediterranean Sea).. Vie et Milieu / Life & Environment, 2020, 70 (3-4), pp.89-112. ⟨hal-03342557⟩