Risques environnementaux et enjeux à Clipperton (Pacifique français)

On the uninhabited atoll of Clipperton, the fourth French Pacific territory, the land and lagoon ecosystems are in drastic degradation while natural hazards are severe. Since the sixties, a desertification process has occurred apparently due to the elimination of pigs introduced by the end of the 19th century, and consequently to the proliferation of millions of omnivorous crabs and thousands of birds. The lack of vegetal cover was already the natural stage before human presence showing therefore a positive human impact on this exceptional environment. Considering these environmental stakes, and enlightened by economic and geopolitical issues of the region, the author proposes, after a limited planning, a land partition between a fully protected area and a human settlement sector which would guarantee French sovereignty on this zone lusted for its resources.