124 Furthermore, we note that the higher the erosion processes on an islet, the lower the number of nests. This information is consistent with available literature on the matter (Fish et al. 2005; Fuentes et al. 2011; Von Holle et al. 2019; Chevallier et al. 2023). Garcin et al. (2016) have specifically reported that New Caledonia’s coral-islets are facing a greater threat in the face of sea level rise induced by climate change, which is likely to lower the resilience of the islets to erosion processes and, thus, of the nesting habitats in the GLS. Therefore, it is also a key parameter to consider when formulating management recommendations of the nesting area, as to avoid engaging a potentially logistical-heavy procedure to ensure the implementation of a protection status on an islet that is likely to decay and disappear in the medium- and longterm. 5.2. Identification of conservation targets, threats nature and efficient management strategies In this study, we have identified that over half of the predicted total number of nests (52.3%) is concentrated on seven specific islets (combining for 25% of the total available length of nesting beach linear within the GLS): Kie, Atire, Gi, Amere, Nge, Koko and Vua. Moreover, the nesting activity was not only high but also stable over the period of this study, and therefore they constitute a core set of important conservation targets at the scale of the GLS. In comparison, the seven islets displaying the lowest number of nests aggregate for 20% of the total available length of nesting beach linear, yet only concentrate 7.4% of the total number of nests. This conclusion should however be moderated considering that some of these data suffer from a low level of field survey, such as Kie, Amere and Koko. Those three latter islets are also the most protected islets of the area, with access totally closed to the public all year round. In practice, they are the only nesting beaches in the GLS to benefit from a permanent and total access restriction (Province Sud 2013; Derville et al. 2019). Although the current protective statuses in the GLS had not been specifically designed for sea turtle conservation purposes, the high nesting intensity reported on these islets could result from a positive reserve effect. This hypothesis is further strengthen by the fact that every other proxies used to estimate the influence of anthropogenic pressure over the nesting intensity (protection status of the islet, distance from the islet to human settlements, levels of exposure to human presence on the islet) have pointed in the same direction. Although additional data from these highly protected areas is needed to further investigate the positive protected area effect, these conclusions are supported by other available sources (Garcıía et al. 2003; Nel et al. 2013; Siqueira-Silva et al. 2020).
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