Mapping Marine Protected Areas in Oceania? Epistemological and Methodological Challenges

Global environmental changes are affecting oceans, which absorb more than 90% of human-generated excess heat. Ocean acidification, along with rising sea levels and temperatures, and the resulting biodiversity loss, significantly impact the planet’s island socio-ecosystems. As the Oceanian region is known for hosting numerous biodiversity hotspots, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a widely implemented public policy instrument for contributing to the preservation of marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs. In French Polynesia, as in many other Pacific islands, MPAs (e.g., those included in the Marine Spatial Management Plan of Moorea) coexist with other environmental protection measures such as Regulated Fishing Areas (RFAs) and Rahui (e.g., Tautira in Tahiti or Ua Huka in the Marquesas islands), which correspond to a “traditional” mode of natural resource management that prevailed in pre-colonial times. Whether for MPAs, RFAs, or Rahui, which are now registered in the Polynesian environmental code, maps remain a crucial tool; first in the delimitation of protected areas – generally in consultation with scientists and increasingly with affected populations – then in their legal recognition through official cartography underpinned by regulations, and finally in their communication to the general public. In practice, the use of maps in this context – defining boundaries, (re)negotiating them, and communicating around them – is rarely questioned. However, the use of this artifact is inherently problematic. Indeed, the Cartesian principles governing maps convey a vision of an enclosed and disembodied space populated by “autonomous” objects (i.e., without intrinsic relationships with the other objects) whose identity is determined by sharp boundaries fixed in time. Traditional cartographic representation induces ipso facto major ruptures – Human-Human, Human-Non-Human, and Non-Human-Non-Human – which conflict with the several continuums through which Oceanians define themselves. This presentation aims to address ongoing reflections around this transdisciplinary research theme and present concrete applications to achieve, particularly through fuzzy logic, a cartography more aligned with the worldviews and practices of communities from Oceania. It will also be an opportunity to explore the epistemological and methodological challenges specific to Oceanist research that actually extend beyond the strict framework of cartography.