Martinique Citizen Declaration: rights of the salt marshes

Summary

In 18 September 2023, a coalition of Martinican associations launched the Declaration of the Rights of the Salines in order to support the recognition of the Salines ecosystem as a legal natural entity (entité naturelle juridique, ENJ). The declaration was formally presented at the municipal hall of Le Lamentin in Martinique with the participation of local officials and environmental advocates seeking to strengthen the legal protection of the Salines site.

Ecosystem Context
The Declaration concerns the Salines of Sainte-Anne, a coastal wetland complex located at the southern tip of Martinique. The site includes the Étang des Salines lagoon, surrounding beaches, salt marshes, mangroves, coastal forests, and the Savane des Pétrifications landscape. The lagoon itself covers approximately 97 hectares and is fed by seawater from both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
the Etang des Salines is a coastal lagoon that has been protected by the Conservatoire du Littoral since 1998 and has been awarded the RAMSAR label since 2008, making it a wetland of international importance. The ecosystem is recognized as a wetland of international importance, having been designated a RAMSAR site in 2008, and it forms a major biodiversity hotspot within the eastern Caribbean region.

Despite existing environmental designations, the area faces sustained ecological pressures including mass tourism, coastal development, and other human uses, with the beach receiving an estimated 2.5 million visitors annually. The initiative emerged from long-standing mobilization by citizens and environmental organizations concerned about the inadequacy of existing environmental protections for the site. Although the Salines already hold multiple conservation designations under French environmental law, local advocates argued that these frameworks had proven insufficient to prevent ecological degradation and unsustainable development pressures.

Jurisprudential Framing
The Declaration defines the Salines as a living and indivisible natural entity composed of interconnected terrestrial and marine ecosystems. It enumerates a series of fundamental rights attributed to the ecosystem, including the right to exist and evolve, the right to maintain ecological integrity and natural cycles, the right to remain connected to marine and groundwater systems, and the right to preserve endemic biodiversity. Additional provisions recognize rights to restoration of degraded ecological elements, protection from pollution and environmental fragmentation, and the ability to maintain ecological functions linking land, sea, and atmosphere. The declaration also affirms that the Salines possess the right to legal representation and to initiate legal proceedings through designated guardians or spokespersons acting on behalf of the ecosystem.

The Declaration was developed with legal expertise from environmental law researcher Victor David of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, and signed by a coalition of twelve local associations (the Sové Lavi Salines collective) and assisted by Notre Affaire à Tous.

Impact Statement

The collective has called on the Collectivité Territoriale de Martinique, municipal governments, and regional institutions to formally endorse the declaration through official resolutions in order to integrate its principles into local governance and environmental regulation. The initiative represents one of the first organized efforts in the French Caribbean to apply the concept of legal rights for ecosystems and to advocate for the institutional recognition of natural entities within the French legal system.

Involved Organizations