World Oceans Day: From Bora Bora to Mayotte via Ouvéa, a variety of solutions to protect the Oceans | Overseas360

2021-2030…we are also entering the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development which is part of Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda: “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.

From land to sea: the role of overseas territories in preserving the oceans

With its 11 million km² of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - of which 97% falls within the overseas territories - the French maritime domain is the 2^th sup > world rank. France's desire to act for the preservation of the marine environment and the development of the blue economy is displayed in major international debates, with a considerable advantage: its presence in all the oceans of the planet.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement (COP21) recognized the primary role of the ocean in regulating the climate and the urgency of preserving it. If marine pollution - 80% resulting from human activities on land - is highlighted, the impacts of climate change particularly affect overseas territories. In addition, the human concentration on the coasts is particularly strong there: urbanization, tourist areas, port facilities, etc. result in the artificialization of the shores to the detriment of the natural environments and in a higher exposure to natural risks.

Read also World Ocean Day 2020: "the biggest wave is that of climate change", warns Bertrand Camus, CEO of SUEZ

The quality of bathing water, an indicator of the health of the ocean

For 150 years, the teams of SUEZ and its overseas subsidiaries have been constantly innovating to treat wastewater and rainwater. The quality of bathing water is thus an indicator of environmental performance that contributes to the attractiveness of territories.

In French Polynesia, the island of Bora Bora has an exceptional environment that represents an essential resource both for its inhabitants and for economic activity. The municipality of Bora Bora and its mayor, Gaston Tong Sang, have been committed since 1989 alongside various actors to limit the pressures on marine and terrestrial ecosystems linked in particular to tourist activity. For the 21^th consecutive year, Bora Bora has just been awarded the Blue Flag: 12 beaches and the Taina marina have received this "international label of sustainable tourism awarded each year to municipalities and marinas which permanently implement a tourism development policy that respects the environment and people”.

But there is no coincidence: the prestigious Blue Flag label is the symbol of an exemplary environmental will and the lagoon is under high surveillance...

Interview with Gaston Tong Sang, tavana (mayor, editor’s note) of Bora Bora, president of the Assembly of French Polynesia:

Bora Bora won the famous Blue Flag for the 21^th consecutive year on May 20th, why is this important for your island?

“For thirty years, the municipality of Bora Bora has put sustainable development at the heart of its policy related to drinking water, wastewater treatment, waste management and energy transition. The protection of the exceptional environment of the "pearl of the Pacific" is also a major objective of the community, for the well-being of its inhabitants and future generations, but also an essential condition for high-end tourist economic development. It has thus been able to integrate its economic opportunities with social justice and its cultural history, towards exemplary ecological progress.

From 1999, the municipality embarked on the Blue Flag labeling process as a means of controlling the effectiveness of wastewater treatment through rigorous monitoring of the quality of bathing water over twenty bathing spots throughout the year. There are of course other criteria, such as communication around the environment, awareness of the population, schools, the realization of new structuring projects, taking into account the handicap in access to bathing areas, etc. .

If the results of the quality of bathing water are almost always "excellent", it is also thanks to an exemption from the international Blue Flag (to my knowledge this is the only case) for an IDEXX analysis laboratory on the island. Indeed, this laboratory sends us the results of the samples in 18 hours (compared to 3 to 4 days with a conventional laboratory located in Tahiti) which allows us to be very reactive in the event of suspicion of bacterial pollution.

"Having a clean lagoon is good, it still has to be alive"

As I often say, “having a clean lagoon is good, but it still has to be alive! ". This is why a new step had to be taken in the knowledge of the health of marine ecosystems - the final receptacle of human-nature interactions - and the impacts of global warming in order to precisely monitor possible changes in ecological trajectory and be able to take action accordingly.

The management of this project was therefore the subject in 2019 of a public/private partnership: CRIOBE, municipality of Bora Bora, the environmental association Ia Vai Ma Noa Bora Bora and Polynésienne des Eaux, in order to carry out a global and complete study of the current environmental state of the lagoon, it is the Biodiv Bora project, then to follow its evolution , BorAcoustic monitoring project.

The Biodiv Bora and BorAcoustic projects, aimed at preserving local marine biodiversity, will serve as a basis for consultation to develop and optimize a maritime space management plan in Bora Bora. The Biodiv Bora project will make it possible to establish an exhaustive inventory of the lagoon environment. The BorAcoustic project, which consists of providing the island of Bora Bora with an environmental monitoring platform, will inform all local players (hotels, associations, users, etc.) about the real-time conditions of the biological and physico- chemical pollution of the lagoon and noise pollution caused by nautical activity.

“Bora Bora, the first island in the Pacific to reuse its treated water”

Always with a view to preserving drinking water resources - the priority being for human use - part of the treated water is reused after ultrafiltration (high-tech membrane treatment) for "industrial" needs. Membrane filtration makes it possible to obtain water of excellent quality, most of which is intended for watering the green spaces of hotels, but, given its quality, the service has been extended to other needs: fire protection, industrial cleaning, washing of boats (including Air Tahiti shuttle boats), construction machinery (washing of household waste collection trucks) and construction (production of concrete).

The use of this technology should see a new development with the golf project in Tevairoa, or even a reuse in drinking water via geological filtration or low pressure osmosis.

A “Smart Island” to meet climate challenges

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The development and use of innovative techniques are essential to face the challenges linked to global warming (drought, rise in sea level) and to our island and tourist economy. It is necessary to be able to count on companies that have the means for research and innovation.

We also promote the implementation of an energy transition towards “green” energies (ocean thermal energy, solar, hydrogen) in order to limit the use of fossil fuels as much as possible. For this project, we have been selected by the European Community as part of the IANOS project (IntegrAted SolutioNs for the DecarbOnization and Smartification of Islands - H2020) where we will represent France.

The realization of this program is a logical follow-up to the sustainable transition already implemented in Bora Bora and it will contribute to its economic and tourist growth. These projects being for the most part pioneers in the Pacific, they could become a tourist activity in their own right and be visited, which will also make it possible to make tourists aware of the problems of the islands.

In terms of investment, our community can count on the help of the Country, the State and private partners. The municipality of Bora Bora has also set up solidarity pricing where the contribution of hotel establishments is predominant. This allows all the inhabitants of the island to have access to quality services and to protect the natural capital of the “pearl of the Pacific” whose 10,600 inhabitants welcome more than 100,000 tourists from all over the world every year” .

Read also SUEZ Eau France in Bora Bora to "discover the heritage of the community in the areas of drinking water and sanitation"

Desalination: when the ocean produces drinking water

In the Pacific, some islands in New Caledonia and French Polynesia lacking water resources are implementing alternative solutions.

Ouvéa, an atoll in the Coral Sea, with an area of ​​132 km² for 4,300 inhabitants, must desalinate sea water to obtain water. 'potable water. The three Calédonienne des Eaux desalination plants produce the drinking water resources necessary for the life of Ouvéans. How it works ? Sea water is pumped into the lagoon via a 25 m borehole in the coral, it is then decanted and the sand particles are eliminated by hydrocyclone (a device that uses centrifugal force to separate particles heavier than water ).

To be desalinated, pressurized water passes through a semi-permeable membrane that retains salts and particles. The water produced is then remineralized to become drinkable, then disinfected with chlorine and stored in a tank. Distribution is ensured by two 15 m³ tank trucks and supplies 60 families as well as the Paradis d'Ouvéa hotel, which is the largest consumer on the island.

7 desalination plants have been commissioned by Calédonienne des Eaux & Aquanord in New Caledonia and several Pacific islands including Fiji.

Desalination by reverse osmosis for Bora Bora

In Bora Bora desalination is done by reverse osmosis. Thanks to the reverse osmosis units installed in Anau and Faanui in 2001, the municipality of Bora Bora is a pioneer in seawater desalination in French Polynesia. With these osmosis units, the 10,600 inhabitants and 800 bungalows of the 7 main hotels on the island are supplied with drinking water. The production capacity of the factories is 3,000 m³/day.

The great challenge of ocean plastic pollution: the solutions are on land

The global production of plastic amounts to more than 400 million tons per year. Some of it is currently recycled, but each year several million tonnes also end up in the oceans To act at the source and deploy solutions of all kinds, the responsibility is both collective and individual: new consumption patterns,

fight against illegal dumping, establishment of a circular economy that involves collecting waste, raising awareness of selective sorting and setting up recycling and recovery channels.

The solutions for recycling and recovering waste - particularly plastics - thus make it possible to anticipate and preserve natural capital and the environment.

In Koungou, the ecopole of STAR Mayotte treats the DASRI (waste of activities of care with infectious risks) and also recovers the waste of packaging, cardboard, plastic, batteries, batteries, cans and of glass… The site treats nearly 48,300 tons of waste each year, thus contributing to the preservation of the Mayotte lagoon.

Built by SUEZ in Sainte-Suzanne, Reunion Island, INOVEST is the first industrial site in the Indian Ocean to integrate 3 sectors for the recovery of household and industrial waste. It will recover 72.5% of waste, an unprecedented rate in Europe.

Plastik’Akoz: 5 economic players from Reunion are committed to reducing their environmental impact

Still on the island of Reunion, five local actors are committed to the fight against the use of plastic and the protection of the environment of the territory: on July 7, 2020, Antenne Réunion, Crédit Agricole de La Réunion, EDF Réunion, E. Leclerc Réunion and SUEZ R&V Réunion have officially created the Plastik' Akoz association.

For Hervé Madiec, Director of the SUEZ Overseas Recycling and Recovery Territory in Reunion, "we have been working in the world of waste for 35 years in Reunion and have seen their constant increase, particularly that of plastic, and the consequences dramatic for our territory. As a local player, we are sensitive to this essential issue for the preservation of the environment and have already undertaken various actions in this direction within our company (reduction of plastic in our premises, sorting of waste). It therefore seemed obvious to us to unite with our four partners to create this association. Proud of this initiative, we hope to be able to change mentalities and encourage other companies to join us.”

On the occasion of World Oceans Day, the Polynésienne des Eaux is joining the Green Brigade this Tuesday for an educational cruise between Tahiti and Moorea: a hundred students from Tahiti will be introduced to the environmental importance of collective wastewater treatment, while in Guadeloupe the Karuker'Ô teams mobilized for the “I act for the ocean” operation, a waste collection organized in the town of Le Moule.