Long Term Goal N°5 : Hospitality and Activities Services - PA

Successful lecture on humpback whales

On March 28, 2021, approximately 100 people attended a lecture on humpback whales held at La Chapelle at Orient Bay. This lecture was organized and presented by Michel Vély, chairman of the association Megaptera, and Nicolas Maslach, director of La Réserve.

• On May 15-16, 2021, thanks to the pedagogical department of La Réserve Naturelle, three Happy School classes – CE2, CM1 et CM2 – had the opportunity to spend a half-day sailing on a large catamaran, and certain were lucky enough to observe humpback whales jumping in the sea. Pedagogical activities in the classroom environment
• Be it with nursery, elementary, or middle school students, one can see that the trees from the mangrove nursery created by La Réserve Naturelle, and planted along the edge of the Etang aux Poissons, are multiplying.
• The Happy School CM2 class participated in the European Life Biodiv’Om project for conservation of Nassau grouper and giant grouper. Three classroom interventions allowed these students to understand the importance of this project and to prepare for their field trip. Welcomed by Aude Berger at La Réserve Naturelle in Anse Marcel, these students got started by sorting the post-larvae collected the night before, then identified the young alevins, with the help of the director of this European project.
• Le 28 juin, la Réserve a été à l’honneur à l’occasion de la fête de fin d’année de l’école Omer Arrondell, avec un spectacle de marionnettes préparé par une classe de cours préparatoire sur l’importance de la mangrove. Ces jeunes élèves avaient bénéficié de trois interventions en classe et d’une autre sur le terrain, pendant laquelle ils ont pu planter de nouvelles pousses de palétuviers.
• Après avoir été sensibilisée à la protection des tortues marines dans le cadre d’un projet inscrit au programme de son année scolaire, la classe de CE1 de l’école Happy School a réalisé un reportage passionnant, qui met en scène les menaces exercées par les activités humaines sur les tortues marines, de la ponte sur les plages de Saint-Martin à l’émergence des petits tortillons. Cette vidéo originale va être remise à sa demande au réseau tortues marines de Guadeloupe, où elle bénéficiera d’une large audience.
• For several years, La Réserve Naturelle has visited two high schools on the island – Robert Weinum and Iles du Nord – and has noticed that the students are more and more interested in the environmental awareness sessions in their life sciences courses. The 2020-2021 sessions were dedicated to coral reefs, and the year before to the mangrove.
• Since September 2020, a sixth-grade class at Soualiga Middle School has built its “Marine Educational Area” (AME) under the supervision of Yolande Besset-Visciano. The class received its AME label in June 2021, awarded to schools that engage in a process of participatory management of the marine environment by the French Office for Biodiversity. This class is composed of students who were introduced to this concept in elementary school and meet during their lunch hour to discuss environmental issues with Vincent Oliva, as well as with “their” AME at Friar’s Bay. Every class at Soualiga Middle School has an “eco-delegate” who coordinates the meetings, under the supervision of Chantal Impériale, CPE at the school. Note: Omer Arrondell School in French Quarter also hopes to receive their AME label.