In Saint-Martin, the total economic value rendered by coral reefs is estimated at 26 million euros per year: they allow 6 million euros in savings in terms of coastal protection and carbon sequestration and generate a figure of business in tourism and leisure of 20 million euros. About 2 jobs, 600 companies and 400 households depend to varying degrees on the services provided by these ecosystems.
In a recently published report, Ifrecor (French initiative for the state of coral reefs) established the state of the reefs in each of the territories. "The state of health of reefs varies greatly between regions, territories, and within the same territory", noted the authors of the report.
In the West Indies, the majority (62%) of the reefs inventoried in these territories are degraded. In Saint-Martin, 20% of the reefs are in a “very degraded” state, 60% in a degraded state; only 20% of the reefs are in "good" condition. No reef is in optimal condition. Saint-Martin is the only overseas territory which has so many very degraded reefs; the second being the Scattered Islands (14%) and the third Martinique (13%).
Since 2015, that is to say since the last reef study by Ifrecor, the state of reef health has been stable, even declining in Saint-Martin. In addition, a decline in coral cover is observed even though a slow progression of coverings has been observed. It is also verified that the “nature reserve” effect is beneficial: herbivore biomasses are higher in protected areas.
In order to promote good health of coral reefs and associated ecosystems, Ifrecor has suggested several measures for Saint-Martin: improve sanitation networks; implement conservation and restoration measures for associated ecosystems; manage the supervision of nautical frequentation, by extending it to boaters; set up a system aiming to cap the capacity of reception on the reserve, to organize the flow of frequentation and to assess the pressure of this frequentation by non-professional yachting.
Very degraded state: very degraded conditions, with a very strongly impacted environment, a majority of dead corals and bottoms covered with macroalgae and / or entirely silted, very low rates of coral cover.
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