An appropriate protection and management tool: the national nature reserve of the French southern lands
The French Southern Lands and Seas being uninhabited, their ecosystems are unaffected by the direct impacts of human activities. Therefore, they host large populations of native species within nearly pristine habitats, as well as complex and intact ecological processes. However, despite their isolation, the biodiversity of these territories is affected by global changes and human-related impacts (biological invasions, pollution, fishing, etc.). The French State created the national nature reserve of the French Southern Lands in 2006, and extended it in 2016, in order to protect these inestimable natural environments and their biodiversity in the long term. Since then, this vast property covers all the habitats that are essential to the life cycle of the species it hosts. The unity of the property is ensured by an important ecological connectivity, comparable ecological values and a unique management system. The national nature reserve of the French Southern Lands guarantees the integrity of the property, and leads effective actions to restore its ecosystems and fight against threats.