Customary Usage and Marine Conservation Approaches: Navigating between the Islands of La Réunion and Tahiti

Abstract

Researchers of all disciplines are taking an interest in the interactions between human and non-human systems since the acceleration of socio-environmental changes, as highlighted by the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Island territories are therefore an asset when it comes to studying this interdependence, since the communities that live there have always found adaptation strategies essential to their living conditions—restricted space, limited resources, geographical isolation, etc. The insular marine environment is a multi-use resource area when considering the diversity of users who interact within it, thus depicting the complexity of interactions between human societies and their environment. In a context where users such as fishermen or tourism providers are directly dependent on ecosystem services (services rendered by nature), it means some human activities start questioning both their social and ecological viability. We present a Grounded Theory approach which cross-referenced the results of ethnographic work carried out in the two insular marine environments, on the islands of La Réunion, France and Tahiti, French Polynesia. This interdisciplinary study falls within environmental social sciences, thus we used the method of gathering qualitative data in triangulation. We conducted semi-structured interviews, extended ethnographic observations over several years (participants and non-participants), and gathered data on social networks. The results show the extent to which the social control by local residents can engage environmental social mediation, but also that local knowledge and marine user consultation mechanisms, when taken into account in the design of natural environment management tools, enable the reduction of conflicts between stakeholders. Clearly, further research will be required to study the adaptation of contemporary societies to ongoing eco-social changes linked to the fructification of the past of island territories and the local know-how developed there.