5.5 Marie-Galante – French Caribbean
The authority responsible for preparing the LA21 is Marie-Galante, a community of municipalities in the Caribbean. It is a French territory, an island administra- tively attached to the overseas department of Guadeloupe. European ultra- peripheral region.
The community of municipalities was set up in 1994. It embraces the island’s three municipalities: Grand Bourg, Saint Louis and Capesterre. The LA21 thus covers the island as a whole. The three individual municipalities have handed over responsibility to the Community of Municipalities on questions of land planning, the environment and economic development. The Community is financed through direct taxation and by additional funding for investments from the public authorities.
The local Agenda 21 was prepared by a group of experts and adopted in 1999.
Local context
Marie-Galante is a small, essentially rural and maritime island (158 km2). Its main activities are agriculture (sugar cane production) and processing (rum), fishing, and handicrafts. Compared with Guadeloupe and the Caribbean islands overall, the island has remained on the sidelines of development and moderni- sation. It has retained a strong cultural identity and a relatively well-preserved natural environment.
The island had 12,500 inhabitants in 1999. The population is decreasing sharply, down 24% over 30 years, due mainly to emigration to Guadeloupe.
Major social problems include unemployment (40%), low income (heavily dependent on social welfare), and the exodus of trained manpower. The island is heavily dependent on funding from mainland France and the EU.
Tourism in Marie-Galante is still largely undeveloped. Foreign investors are few and far between (despite the existence of a rule which exempts investment from tax), and development is in the hands of the locals.
The island receives around 450,000 visitors each year, and an esti- mated tourist flow of 300 per day in the high
season. Tourism is typified by beach tourism and green tourism with short stays of between one and three days, taking advan- tage of ferry connections
to Guadeloupe and the Saints, and several flights each day to Pointe à Pitre. The island has around 700 tourist beds, of which 50% are in guesthouses and rural lodgings.