Friday December 1st. A boat from the 2024 Olympic Games breaks coral in Tahiti! Social networks went up in flames when a boat used for the construction of the new judges’ tower for the surfing event, supposed to replace the old wooden tower, tore up coral. The Tehuapoo wave (named after the town on the Tahiti peninsula) is one of the most beautiful waves in the world. “You have to know how to get out of the wave before getting brushed by the reef” says Pierre Sasal, director of CRIOBE (Center for Insular Research and Environmental Observatory), CNRS research center of the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the University of Perpignan located in French Polynesia for over 50 years.
Contacted by Le Figaro, IFREMER of Polynesia very close to the site (French Research Institute for the exploitation of the MER) did not respond to our requests. The videos and images of this coral reef leave you dreaming of this biodiversity of all kinds: corals, fish of all colors, sponges and algae. This was without counting on the project of the new judges’ tower. Saturday December 2, the president of French Polynesia put a stop to this construction. Contacted by Le Figaro, Natacha Kalasa – from the Paris 2024 press service – ensures that “President Brotherson and his teams are extremely mobilized so that the surfing events of the Olympic Games can be held in Teahupo’o” What is the analysis scientist of the impact of this tower? The investigation carried out by Le Figaro leads us to wonder if the problem is not elsewhere.
According to Natacha Kalasa, “a first test was organized last Friday (December 1). This test, led by the Polynesian Government, and attended by representatives of local associations, did not prove conclusive; coral potatoes were in fact damaged during the passage of the barge, as shown in videos produced by representatives of the associations. We collectively deplore that coral heads were damaged during this test.” But Natacha Kalasa promises that “the next path test will be carried out with a barge of reduced dimensions”. The depth of the lagoon is shallow, around 2 meters at the level of the foundations of the old judges’ tower. Thus, the draft (height of the submerged part of a boat) must be adapted so as not to tear out the corals which took decades to build.
Why can’t the old wooden judges’ tower continue to be operated? Natacha Kalasa responds to Le Figaro: “President Brotherson also recalled that the old wooden tower could no longer be used; we cannot put lives in danger on a tower that does not meet the most basic safety rules.” The commissioned Véritas design office publishes its conclusions on November 14, 2023: “our technical opinion is unfavorable on the solidity of the wooden tower and the existing foundations in its current state”. There are several solutions: improve the old tower or make a new one. The solution chosen by Paris 2024 is to create a new judges’ tower. We will not detail here the reasons for this choice (which can be consulted here). Local associations mobilized against the project received technical documents on the construction of this new tower. Contacted by Le Figaro, Paris 2024 did not wish to send us these technical documents, nor did the Polynesian laboratory CRIOBE have access to them. Let us try to evaluate the environmental impact of this choice.
Le Figaro was able to consult Pierre Sasal, director and researcher of the CNRS CRIOBE laboratory, coral reef expert, in order to assess the relevance of this project: “we know that the construction of this new tower will have an environmental impact, particularly with submarine cables, construction of toilet drains. This will have an impact on the reef.” However, for the researcher “we know how to do reef restoration like coral cuttings, these are compensatory measures and it would perhaps be an opportunity, during the Olympics, to show our know-how in Polynesia”. Researcher Pierre Sasal specifies that Paris 2024 called on a design office to analyze the situation and adds: “I have no doubt about the quality of the environmental study carried out by the design office (Creocean ). In reality, the influence on the lagoon is limited, the tower occupies a few dozen square meters, the lagoon covers thousands. However, corals are local jewels: who would accept seeing jewels that have been in the family for generations broken?
Natacha Kalasa specifies that “under these conditions, it is appropriate to work on solutions which will make it possible to set up the new tower, reduced in size and lighter, the principle of which has been collectively adopted”. However, the notion of collective used in the communication of the organizers of the Olympic Games does not seem to concern everyone… “Although the majority of the population is in favor of the Olympic Games in Polynesia, there was no societal consultation to present the project. All the associations of surfers, fishermen and residents have undoubtedly not been properly consulted, they are demonstrating today” testifies Pierre Sasal. The researcher specifies that his laboratory, CRIOBE, has researchers in the human and social sciences; the laboratory knows how to carry out surveys of the population. “Like everyone, Tahitians like to get together to talk, you have to present the project to them with the pros and cons. They are capable of having an informed opinion if we clearly present all the elements to them.”
In his remarks, the researcher explains collective decision-making, that which associates public power (represented by the J.O.P. committee and associated study firms), scientists in different disciplines (from life sciences to human and social sciences ) and finally the populations (residents, surfers, fishermen). The researcher adds that “if he had done it better (Paris 2024), it would have gone like a letter in the mail, despite the environmental impact, because we know how to take compensatory measures”. We understand that the tripartite consultation was not fully used to develop the project. However this Sunday, “President Moetai Brotherson brought together a large majority of actors who welcome this project. This meeting lasted 5 hours” reports Tony Estanguet who “welcomes the fantastic initiative of returning in complete transparency to the evolution of this file”.
However, the consultation will be well launched, but in 2024 as Natacha Kalasa reports, “always in a spirit of transparency, monthly public meetings will be organized in Teahupo’o from January 2024. An “Olympic Games” information office will be also open with representatives of the Polynesian Government, an environmental study office, a branch of the Taiarapu-West Tourism Committee and Paris 2024 to inform and answer questions from residents and local stakeholders. Researcher Pierre Sasal invites us to question the environmental costs and benefits of the Olympics which will attract attention to the archipelago.
Pierre Sasal submits a new idea for consideration by Paris 2024: “currently, the judges watch the competitors with binoculars from the judges’ tower. There are several competitors on the same wave, which makes it difficult to observe all the athletes. Why not imagine filming the ordeal with drones? We are doing amazing things with drones: the videos would be transmitted in real time to the judges in a room on the beach.” This proposal is also supported on Friday December 8 by Pascal Blanchard, historian and essayist, on Arte in the program 28 minutes presented by our colleague Renaud Dély.
Beyond the tower, there are other issues at the site, such as the ongoing construction of new roads and homes. For researcher Pierre Sasal: “After learning of the arrival of the Olympics, some Polynesians built bungalows to accommodate the tourists who would flock. Moreover, some surf teams have already set up on site, to train on the wave before the Olympics.”
In the midst of COP 28, let us also wonder about these coral reefs. For Pierre Sasal, “it is obvious that the Judges’ Tower is an epiphenomenon, at a time when climate change is increasing massive coral bleaching (coral death), the frequency of cyclones which disrupt coral reefs, and the presence of coral-eating starfish in Polynesia.” These issues will undoubtedly be at the heart of the scientific conference on corals, “the Paris of reefs” from December 12 to 15.
