15 Direction of Sustainable Development of the South Province Territories I Strolling along the waterways Ramsar area The human footprint Yaté Dam Lakes and sinkholes Forest plantations Mine-related infrastructure Main roads and tracks Tracks Habitat 14 Strolling along the waterways Forest exploitation The mining industry Shaped by humans Mine landscapes in literature 1 Among several writers predominates the image of a metamorphosis of landscapes used for economic reasons, ravaged by prospects describing the mountain as a wounded creature, a sad landscape or one with chromatic uniformity. “Huge portions of the island are gigantic mineral blocks” J. Mariotti. “From the front, the extreme tip of the cape outlined its reddish and bare mass with its sides open with bloody wounds in the grey heather - the prospects of the nickel seekers -.” J. Mariotti. “They seemed, these majestic chains, to say with pride to those smaller than them: Stand back! Make way for us! We are the serpentines, New Caledonia’s backbone. We are the ones who make the law, we give the movement, we create the activity. In our bosom we contain the infernal lava of Pluto, crystallized into inexhaustible riches. See these yellow, gaping wounds, which open in stages in our large chests; they are dug there to extract the nickel which is our flesh. And these deep, bloody bowels, which yawn in our red clay dermis; they were incised to tear out our chromium ribs which will, throughout the world, harden metals. Look at these black holes which penetrate into our bowels, like the lairs of cyclops; they are dark and tortuous tunnels which lead into places full of mysteries, bleeding our veins blued with cobalt.” Savages and civilized, G. Baudoux “The landscape is sad, with the grey tones of its shrubs which resemble thyme laurels and the reddish colour of the soil. There is a melancholy there common to all places where there is a lack of water and large trees.” Mining, F. Ordinaire. “An impalpable dust of yellowish ochre covered the entire landscape like a veil of earthy saffron (...)” Holes and galleries are scattered in this island, giant terraces cut deeply into the mountain, winding roads scar its sides, erosion exposes the rock, large greyish spots reveal the path of bushfires, crisscrossed by numerous tracks imposing an artificial mesh signed by the hand of man. Mining activity leaves its mark on the territory. Mining in the Blue River Provincial Park (BRPP) The mining past of the areas that today make up the Blue River Provincial Park and its surroundings mainly concerns the Month of May River, Bon Secours and Renaissance mines. They were exploited using open-air quarrying techniques. Forestry production, high plots in the plain In the mid-1970s, forestry essentially based on Caribbean pine developed. The sector then diversified with endemic tropical species (Araucaria, Kauri tree, Sandalwood, etc.) An arboretum as an emblematic tree Located in the Blue River Provincial Park (BRPP), this arboretum is home to 14 (including 11 endemics) of the 20 species of Araucarias listed in the world. To date, it constitutes the largest global collection of its kind with nearly 20 different conifer specimens. It pursues three missions: conservation, seed orchard and public awareness support. Traces from the past Traveling through the Great South, we notice the presence of old, discreet vestiges, gradually disappearing into the vegetation: rails, schlittage (sleigh) paths*, a winch locomotive (towards the White River) but also some well-preserved witnesses of this history such as the Perignon Bridge, entirely made of wood in 1958. In New Caledonia’s Great South region, there is a feeling of nature. Infrastructure and roads are few. The majority of the habitat is distributed among four tribes - Goro, Touaourou, Wao, Unia - installed on a narrow plain along the coast. The low population density is explained by the reduced size of the cultivable space and the absence of colonial pressure. A brief history “In 1866, Governor Guillain entrusted Captain Sebert with responsibility for supplying the emerging capital with wood. The Southern Forests were chosen. He found exploitable forests in Prony, located near the sea. The operations began in 1868, in the Kauri Bay area. In 1873, the artillery gave way to the prison administration. From 1889, the condemned were replaced by the relegated. The workforce swelled. The yield dropped. The men were scattered between Bonne-Anse, Port-Boisé, The Carénage, North Bay and Prony. This forestry adventure ended up in 1907 and operations closed in 1911.” Guide GR®NC1, From Prony to Dumbea, Jean-Francis Clair Opposite: Overview of the former forestry establishment of Prony >>> Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, the exploitation of the forests of the Blue River and the White River valleys began. Thirty-seven kilometres of railway tracks were laid to transport locomotives to the operating area and then to transport the logs to the sawmill settled at the mouth of the Pirogues River. During the SecondWorldWar, this railway line was also used by the Nickel Company to evacuate the Chromium ore which it had taken over. In short, •Cobalt: low content. At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, New Caledonia was the main supplier of this precious metal. Digging narrow trenches was the only means of prospecting to cross the thick lateritic cover in order to reach the minerals. When the cobalt diggers followed interesting concentrations, they opened galleries called cobalt diggers’ holes. •Chromium: low content. A deposit discovered around 1890. Located in coastal or weathering formations (examples: Prony and Ouen Island). •Iron: the armour contains a lot of it. Operated at Goro in the years 1940 and 1941 and at Prony between 1956 and 1968. •Nickel: considerable reserves, but the low content has delayed its exploitation for a long time. (P) Mining prospecting wells (a technique widely used until the 1970s in the search for this ore), made by hand using crowbars and shovels, could reach a depth of 20 m. Several mining companies exploit it. GR®NC1 Guide, From Prony to Dumbéa, Jean-Francis Clair, extracts 1 .Eddy Banaré ANC. AlbumNouméa-Aden-Mascara 101 Fi –68 Funicular, Carenage Bay ©B. Suprin * Schlitte : Long sled used to transport cut wood on rails © Nicolas Charpin A mine in Prony P
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