Fisheries in the Pacific

never any follow up or response. It is always the same with politicians” (extract of an
interview with a 55-year-old man).
The WWF and political representatives mostly operate within an “ethnical and
folkloric” conceptualization of the Yambé community and the participatory approach
represents precisely one important process to build “imagined communities” (Le
Meur 2008). However, the economic valorisation of the MPA through ecotourism
did not take into account local expectations and prevented the achievement of
primary objectives, especially of local initiatives and fisheries development. With
the recent reshuffling of the WWF and North Province marine coordinators, the
recruiting of a coordinator and local animators for the ZNCE, as well as projects
such as INTEGRE, 46 it appears that new directions to better respond to local
expectations are being followed in Yambé, 47 and at the larger scale of the ZCNE,
but they still need to be analysed in the field (see Bodmer and Marty 2014).
To conclude, the Hyabé/Lé-Jao MPA case study is one more example of the
opposition between Western and Kanak ecological rationalities (Leblic 1993;
Winslow 1995; Horowitz 2008). Therefore, despite the participatory approach
adopted and some primary observations (Bodmer 2010), long term fieldwork revealed
that the tools and objectives of the project’s coordinators (North Province, WWF)
do not effectively meet the Yambé community’s expectations or give real recognition
to customary management. In particular, the MPA poses more constraints for fishers
through increased provincial and scientific influence, its normative framework and
complex management schemes, while affecting fishing practices and regulations,
traditional knowledge and marine tenure. Like all development projects, the MPA
establishes a new “local arena” within which complex issues crystallize (Leblic 1993;
Le Meur 2008). From the viewpoint of the Yambé tribe, the MPA is a means to
have its authority over the territory and marine resources recognized and perpetuate
traditional knowledge and customary management, which is part of a marine heritage
to be passed down to future generations. From the viewpoint of North Province, the
MPA is part of territorial legitimization and socioeconomic rebalancing processes
at the heart of the self-determination of New Caledonia, which it has historically
led. Lastly, from the viewpoint of the new “development brokers” (WWF, scientific
46. INTEGRE (French acronym for Initiative des territoires du Pacifique Sud pour la gestion régionale de
l’environnement) is a sustainable development project supported by the Pacific Community and
coordinated by French Polynesia with financial support from the FED (French acronym for Fonds
européen de développement). Its objectives are to sustain local initiatives, favour communities’ participation
and integrated coastal zones management, and reinforce regional cooperation between four European
overseas countries and territories (New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and Pitcairn).
For further details, see INTEGRE website. URL: http://integre.spc.int/ (Accessed on October 07,
2015).
47. A nursery project initiated in 2012 formulated by the tribe had enabled an abandoned quarry
on the MPA watershed to be rehabilitated with a first phase of revegetation in 2013.
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