“Protéger” an integrated project to promote soil bioengineering to protect riverbanks of Guadeloupe

Abstract

Within the biodiversity hotspot of the West Indies, Guadeloupe presents a remarkable plant biodiversity. The strong urbanization along its rivers leads to the alarming degradation of their banks through artificialization and proliferation of invasive alien species.Since 2015, the "PROTEGER" project, led by the Guadeloupe National Park and involving INRAE and the University of the West Indies, and funded by the European Union and the French Biodiversity Agency, has been promoting and developing the use of native species and copying natural models to restore riparian ecosystems using soil bioengineering techniques. The first phase of the project (2016-2018) characterized 12 types of Guadeloupe's riparian forests and identified 80 native species potentially suitable for riparian restoration. The second phase of the project (2019-2022) focused on the control of the multiplication of 26 of these species, and their use on bank protection and restoration sites. An experiment on cuttings was conducted on 21 native species (9 tree 4 shrub species; and 8 herbaceous species), another on the germination and growth of seedlings of 5 species of tree legumes. The first soil water bioengineering demonstration projects was implemented along a riverbank through a training course. The third phase to come aims to disseminate the knowledge to local stakeholders and the development of a local economic sector of nurseries and specialized companies.This project allows the improvement of scientific knowledge of Guadeloupean riparian environments and the development of innovative techniques for the restoration and protection of these environments using local plant species. This project associates managers and researchers in a global approach for the development of a sustainable sector of ecological engineering on the Guadeloupean territory.