Our Seabed and Ocean plastic

Fisch Swim

Law of the Sea

Meeting with Sebastian Greaux, ocean floor specialist and director of ATE the environmental agency.

By LOÏC PINTO

L’OFFICIEL: Could you briefly introduce yourself and the Territorial Environment Agency? SÉBASTIEN GRÉAUX: My name is Sébastien Gréaux, I have been the director of ATE since 2018 and I specialize in the conservation of the seabed. The ATE tries, on its own scale, to maintain the biodiversity of St Barth, mainly weakened by human activities and threatened from all sides today.

L’O: Despite its small size, St Barth has a great diversity of fauna and flora, increasingly impacted by pollution directly affecting the archipelago, the seabed and the land surrounding them. The risks weighing on the environment are major, can you tell us a few words about them and tell us how you can try to anticipate and counter them? SG: St Barth being a small territory, the threats are mainly due to the human presence: destruction of habitats linked to the construction of buildings (hotels, houses, restaurants etc), invasive presence of domestic animals which proliferate or human overpopulation of the island which induces a tenfold vehicle fleet.

Our mission is divided into several fields of action. We take care of the nature reserve, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. We must ensure scientific monitoring of species and environments with high stakes. We also manage the moorings of the boats, the maritime beaconing, which involves a significant administrative part and maintenance of the material. We issue fishing licenses, with 1000 holders today and also enforce environmental policy. The ATE monitors the numbers of invasive alien species, whether animal (striped iguanas, corn snakes, goats) or plants. In this regard, the ATE centralizes the complaints of residents and works with other associations in order to act in the direction of a balance of ecosystems. In 3 years, 2000 goats have been captured, which may seem like a lot, but there are still a lot of them in the hills, unfortunately.

L’O: When you say they are captured, how exactly is this done? SG: We catch them and give them to people who have a park to accommodate them. But we are not going to lie, sooner or later they will end up on a plate. We want to put everything in place so that certain plants have time to reproduce. In fact, the ATE has a nursery with native species that it then tries to replant in the wild, in places where stray goats are rare.

L’O: Given the gravity of the situation, which is particularly worrying with regard to the seabed and the coral, what are your strategies to promote your actions and your values to the inhabitants of the island and to tourists? SG: Through the community, the ATE allocates aid for the installation of solar panels and water heaters to ensure that the island turns more and more to green. About this subject and all the others, we communicate to the general public through the Internet: our site of course, but also through our social networks, Facebook and Instagram. But as is often the case here, most of the communication takes place through word of mouth and day-to-day education via architects, contractors, volunteers and agents. We are fortunate to have in our ranks an environmental education officer who intervenes in schools or occasionally for the training of hotel staff.

L’O: There seems to be a real awareness of environmental issues, especially among young people. How do you see mentalities evolving in relation to these subjects? DA: It’s true that mentalities have changed a lot. For example

today, in gardens, local so-called endemic species are much more represented, so there are fewer and fewer plants from around the world. Things are going in the right direction. A few years ago, poachers were still rife every Sunday in the reserve, but for a while, although not everything is perfect, we have seen an improvement in behavior. We also make it our mission to make everyone a guarantor of the local environment and also a good citizen.

L’O: Yes, the important thing is to make things happen at your level. What are your strategies for attracting funding? SG: We are a public establishment so we depend on subsidies but we receive small annual donations from individuals who love their island and want to enjoy it in the best conditions. We take help wherever it comes from.

L’O: In order to shed light on these ecological issues, the artist Doug Aitken offers an immersion in the seabed with his metal installation Underwater Pavillion. What do you know about the project organized by Parley with this artist? SG: Indeed, Philippe Combres communicated a draft project to me more than a year before the pandemic, but unfortunately the project fell through.

L’O: The Underwater Pavillion metal installation is up again and L’Officiel would like to know to what extent the ATE could support and accompany this project? Would you agree to initiate and validate a collaboration between the artist Doug Aitken, Parley and the Agence Territoriale? SG: At first glance, we were not necessarily in favor of this project because it was a question of submerging it in the reserve, which seemed to us to be detrimental to the natural habitats that are present there already. But now, if everything is done to circumvent the risks and install the work in a strategic and favorable location, it could generate good publicity for the protection and preservation of these environments, especially among foreign tourists and our local population here on the island.

L’O: What do you see as the future of ATE in the next 5, 10, 20 years? SG: The big upcoming project is the expansion of the reserve to land areas and not just marine areas as is the case today. At the same time, there is also talk of expanding the marine reserve areas. And finally, we would like to solve the problem of cats and goats within the next 5 years.

L’O: Quite a program! We would like to let you know that we are your allies on these upcoming projects and you will have our support. To conclude on a sunny note, what would be the positive and unifying message you could send to our readers in order to interest them in the topics discussed here and encourage them to participate more at their level? SG: As I have already said, everyone has their role to play and can become a link in the protection of our environment. But for that to happen, you have to take on this role and become responsible for it.

Thanks to the ATE and its director Sébastien Gréaux, to the Collectivité of SaintBarthélemy, to all the associations of the island and their volunteers and to all those who, on a daily basis, play a role in the protection of our island.

Ocean PLASTIC

Utöpia and Parley has developed a series of artist flags with artists Jeppe Hein, Julio LeParc and Doug Aitken. Each flag is made from Parley Ocean Plastic and proceeds go towards Parley Global Cleanup Network. Interview with Jeppe Hein.

By JENNY MANNERHEIM

L’OFFICIEL: Your flag, titled “WE ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED”, shows an armada of colorful smiley faces, quickly painted in watercolors. Who are they and why are they smiling? JEPPE HEIN: My flag shows spontaneous self-portraits visualizing my mood, just as I felt in the moment of painting. At the same time, my intention was to portray life in its entirety, reflecting the connection between us all and to encourage exchange between us. We all breathe and even though we live different lives each breath keeps us together, connected, sharing the same air. By smiling at someone, we can show this connection and our appreciation for each other. These faces smile for you and they want you to smile too!

L’O: Why is happiness interesting for art? JH: Art can be very appealing for people, creating joyful situations as well as relaxing moments and opportunities for interaction with other people. It makes people laugh and life is easier with a smile on your face − or as Charlie Chaplin said: a day without laughter is a day wasted. I believe if an artwork puts a smile on your face and gets you in high spirits, it even makes your life better – at least momentarily.

L’O: Flags with special colored designs are used as tools for signaling, conveying particular meanings. Where do you want to see your flags flying? JH: Wherever a smile is missing and people need to be reminded that we are all interconnected.

L’O: Your flags are made of Ocean Plastic® and support Parley’s Global Cleanup program. Why did you decide to get involved and support the initiative? JH: I got to know Parley for the Ocean and its Global Cleanup program when preparing my project Breathe with Me. Breathe with Me is a global engagement art project that spreads a simple but ambitious message of interconnectivity, by inviting everyone to breathe together and paint their own individual breath next to each other. It ignites awareness, unity and positive action for a strong and sustainable future. It inspires engagement that is impactful in a multitude of ways to see how the world can breathe together for a better future. In this approach, our projects have a lot in common and I see it as meaningful addition to support Parley’s program, because we need action to safe our planet and we need the oceans to breathe.

L’O: Do you have a close relationship to the oceans? What marine creature would you like to have the ability to transform into? JH: I was born and grew up in Denmark, a country that is surrounded by the ocean and so I have a very close relationship to the oceans. I would love to be a dolphin because I like surfing.

Jeppe Hein is a Danish artist based in Berlin, widely known for his production of experiential and interactive artworks that can be positioned at the junction where art, architecture, and technical inventions intersect. Unique in their formal simplicity and notable for their frequent use of humor, his works engage in a lively dialogue with the traditions of Minimalist sculpture and Conceptual art of the 1970s. Hein’s works often feature surprising and captivating elements which place spectators at the centre of events and focus on their experience and perception of the surrounding space.

ART

A SEA OF HEARTS

“Would humans exist without heart? They roll under our feet, our eyes catch a shape coming from the sea, we grab it delicately and discover that it’s a heart shape. It is symbolic of a love achievement, of sharing smiles and love, of happy times. I am helping nature call on us, make us pay attention to the value of sharing which itself encapsulates a string of symbols” – Roger Moreau Roger Moreau is part of St Barth’s identity with his Coeur St Barth, where he sculpts hearts out of dead corals, and then molds them into bronze sculptures. Bronze is elegant, timeless and resistant to corrosion. The nobility of the material corresponds to the stone.