Conservatoire d’espaces naturels de Nouvelle-Calédonie (CEN-NC)

CEN-NC acts as a tool for cooperation, consultation and animation in the service of the environmental strategies defined by the New Caledonian communities and the State.

CEN’s mission is to study, understand, conserve, protect, restore, develop and publicise New Caledonia’s natural land and marine areas, in order to ensure their integrated and sustainable management.

Currently, it is involved in the conservation of the dry forest, the preservation of the marine heritage (coordination of the management of the World Heritage Site, coordination of IFRECOR NC and the Dugong Action Plan), and the coordination of the fight against invasive species.

The Board of Directors of the CEN decides on the strategic orientations to be given to environmental issues in any field aiming at the management or protection of natural environments.

The scope of CEN’s work includes the following areas:

• Contribution to the improvement of scientific knowledge
• Protection of environments, the species that depend on them and the processes that ensure their balance against all risks and threats to their status and evolution
• Restoration in situ and ex situ of these environments and species subject to degradation
• Valorisation of the results of research and development work carried out in favour of these ecosystems
• Promotion of their sustainable management
• Management of equipment of common interest necessary for these activities.

The CEN can receive a delegation of public services. It can also buy, rent, allocate or manage under agreement land necessary for the accomplishment of its missions (conservation of rare species and habitats, ecological restoration, etc.).