French National Parks Beyond Europe
Map of Guadeloupe. Image credit: CIA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The natural treasures of the mainland national parks of France are complemented by those of the three parks located in the French departments of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea, Réunion in the Indian Ocean, and in French Guiana on the northern coast of South America. Each of these national parks exhibits a broad range of biodiversity on land and underwater and, like their European counterparts, are sustained through a collaboration among local residents and national and international entities that attempt to balance livelihoods, tourism, research, and conservation in the national parks and their surrounding areas.
Guadeloupe National Park (Parc national de la Guadeloupe), the first French national park outside of Europe, had been locally overseen as the Guadeloupe Natural Park until 1970 before being designated as a Parc national de France in 1989. Several years later, it was recognized by UNESCO as an international biosphere reserve, which helps promote conservation efforts as well as providing research and cooperation efforts for ecological understanding and sustainable local economic development. Within the Guadeloupe National Park, tropical rainforests sustain several hundred species of trees and plants that shelter a variety of insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals, including two endemic species of bats. The park also contains a mountain range with several peaks, most notably La Soufrière, an active volcano that last erupted in April 2021.
Hercules beetle. Image credit: Muséum de Toulouse, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hiking is a popular activity in Guadeloupe National Park. Visitors can access mountain and volcano summits that reach nearly 5,000 feet in altitude, traverse varied types of coastal and tropical forests while encountering waterfalls, orchids, ferns, chestnut trees, mahogany trees, and palms. Birds, bats, and Guadeloupe raccoons may be seen and heard, and some hikers are (un)lucky enough to see Hercules beetles that can grow between 2 and 7 inches long. Coastal forests descend into mangroves that serve as buffers between the land and the adjacent Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve, which includes one of the largest coral reefs in the Caribbean.
Area residents share their knowledge and expertise to guide tourists and educate them about conservation efforts and practices that help maintain rather than damage the park’s ecology. Diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and beachgoing are popular activities in the Reserve, which is a prime location for migratory birds to pass through. Year-round, Grand Cul-de Sac Marin features sea turtles, crabs, urchins, birds, and nearly half of the total number of fish species that have been identified in the entire Caribbean.
Eruption of Piton de la fournaise, Réunion. Image credit: Samuel A. Hoarau, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Réunion National Park (Parc national de la Réunion) was established in March 2007 on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. Over 40% of the volcanic island’s territory falls within the national park’s core boundaries, including the Piton des Neiges and Piton de la Fournaise volcanoes. Another third of the island is considered to constitute buffer areas of the park where everyday and development activities are undertaken with conservation and sustainability in mind. Like Guadeloupe National Park, areas within Réunion National Park are recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites for their exceptional range and uniqueness of biodiversity.
Réunion was uninhabited with largely endemic flora and fauna until the 17th century, when the arrival of Europeans and their subsequent use of the island for trade and sugar plantations brought new species and negatively impacted others native to Réunion. The national park designation and conservation practices are aimed at preserving and regenerating plant and animal populations that are specific to Réunion, such as the Réunion Island ornate day gecko and the Mauritian flying fox. The park’s volcanoes and mountainous topography attract hikers as well as entities considering the potential for geothermal energy projects, a controversial topic since the appeal of renewable geothermal energy is countered by the prospect of disrupting the national park’s environment.
Both Guadeloupe and Réunion national parks as well as the eight national parks in France are dwarfed by the Guiana Amazonian Park (Parc amazonien de Guyane) which includes over 13,000 square miles of Amazonian rainforest. It lies adjacent to the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park in Brazil, combining to form the largest protected area of Amazonian rainforest on the South American continent. Also designated a national park in 2007, the Guiana Amazonian Park cannot be accessed by land, only by air or sea. It lies between the Maroni and Oyapock rivers and has long nurtured a wide variety of flora and fauna species. Anacondas, caimans, and frogs coexist with jaguars, giant otters, spider monkeys, and tapirs among palms, orchids, medicinal plants, and mangroves. Communities of Amerindians, Businenge, and Creole people have lived in the area for centuries, developing their own cultural practices and expert ways of interacting with nature.
Hoatzin bird. Image credit: Kate from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Guiana Amazonian Park harbors nearly 6,000 plant species, over 700 species of birds, and several hundred species of fish, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals along with innumerable types of insects. Its boundaries encompass entire villages that are respected in their own right, with tourist and researcher interaction only by permission. Nonetheless, the park has been and continues to be subject to many challenges presented by years of exploration and exploitation. Guiana remains relatively undeveloped compared with its neighboring countries and the French government and national park have undertaken efforts to prohibit activities adverse to the Amazon environment. However, gold mining, hunting and poaching, pollution, and deforestation have already contributed to the endangerment of wildlife and Guiana faces a similar dilemma to that of Réunion. A desire to convert its legacy energy production methods to a renewable source by growing soybeans would entail further deforestation for soy agriculture and would likely further the destruction of habitats necessary to sustain some of the Amazon’s unique flora and fauna.
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An astounding 162 species of frogs have been identified in the Guianese forest. Watch the short video below in which ecologist Mathieu Chouteau tells how they play an important role in maintaining the rich biodiversity of the Amazonian forest as well as serving as a warning sign of ecological threats, particularly from gold mining.
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