Wildlife regains its rights under the Mareterra construction site in Monaco
Behind the high palisades, between the Grimaldi Forum and the Louis-II tunnel, the activity of the Mareterra site has rarely been so intense. On the entire site, where a new six-hectare district will be born by the last quarter of 2024, nearly 2,000 workers are working on structural work and architectural finishes. So much for the visible part.
Beneath the surface of the water, close to the maritime infrastructure, the fauna is slowly but surely regaining its rights thanks to underwater ecological measures known as “compensation”.
Thoughts from the origin of this pharaonic project then defined by the builders, these extend from the port Hercule to the marine reserve of Larvotto.
“Attracting and Fixing Life”
In the fishermen’s gallery, nestled on the Rock, an exhibition unveils, until September 28, the appropriation of these new spaces by the species of the Mediterranean Sea.
Shots signed by the brilliant naturalist photographer Greg Lecoeur, awarded in 2016 by National Geographic then crowned underwater photographer of the year, in 2020, for his shots of crabeater seals in Antarctica.
In September 2021, accompanied by Monegasque freediver Pierre Frolla, Greg Lecoeur put on the mask and the oxygen bottles to capture the present moment through a wide-angle lens. “I have a strong commitment to the preservation of the oceans so I was curious to get my own idea of these artificial reefs which attract and fix life. They were already colonized. I found a lot of life, especially in alcoves and cavities”he confides.
At the heart of the facades of the caissons, the Jarlan chambers, the eco-reef villages and riprap as well as in the outfall of the four valleys (1), the underwater photographer thus observed a corb – “we don’t come across them every day ” –, a huge capon (red lionfish), moray eels, schools of wolves and sar, nudibranchs.
“Other artificial reefs, much older, have already proven their effectiveness. What would be interesting for the new ones is to return there every year to see, in the long term, if the marine life is recovering its rights. “, continues Greg Lecoeur.
Scientific monitoring until 2030
Precisely, these installations distributed from east to west are the subject of scientific monitoring until 2030, well after the delivery of the site. “This includes physical monitoring of ecological facilities, in particular to ensure the structural sustainability of the facilities, but also, subsequently, biological monitoring of their benefit in terms of colonization, whether fish colonies, vagile fauna (aquatic animals that move by crawling on the bottom) or sessile fauna and flora (fixed to a substrate)“can we read on the Mareterra website.
(1) 40 biomimetic sea urchins, 1km of reed bed and 11 basins of cystoseires (algae) have been installed there.
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Exhibition on the eco-design measures of the Mareterra site. In the fishermen’s gallery. Until September 28, 2022.