Page D'accueil. Pierre Poivre
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The Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauri6us Founded in 1829. Celebrang the 300th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Poivre, Intendent de l’Isle de France Patron of the Fes6val: His Excellency Mr Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory, G.O.S.K. Interim President of the Republic of Mauri6us The significance of Pierre Poivre for Mauri6us In France and in Mauri-us Pierre Poivre is known essen-ally for his success in breaking the Dutch spice monopoly and for crea-ng the Pamplemousses Botanical garden as it was to be known. But almost nothing is known about his key environmental and ecological contribu-ons made during his mandate in the then Isle de France. 1. Pierre Poivre was born in Lyon, France on 23 august 1719. He studied to become a priest. As he was good in languages he was sent as seminarist to China in 1741 to evangelize the Orient. There he became very interested in the successful agricultural prac-ces in the spice tree cul-va-on of the area. 2. He returned to the Far East in 1748 for the French East India Company to inves-gate on the means to obtain illegally plants and seeds of the nutmeg and cloves from the Dutch planta-ons, a highly lucra-ve business they strongly protected. This he managed in a limited manner. The few plants and seeds he had managed to “steal” he leR in Isle de France for germina-on and acclima-za-on. 3. He re-red on his property from 1757 to 1766. During this -me the East India Company went bankrupt and the islands (Isle de France and Bourbon) bought back by the King. 4. In 1766 Poivre was appointed by the King as the first ‘Intendent’ of the two colonies, in charge of all civil administra-on of the islands. In 1767 he arrived in Isle de France with the Governor (essen-ally in charge of military ma\ers) to take up his post. He found the island in a state of severe degrada-on and immediately set about on these tasks. 5. Poivre had been entrusted with two main missions. The first one was to restore the ability of the harbour at Port Louis, a strategic military stronghold in the Indian Ocean, to receive a French naval fleet and military force and to transform the colony into a commercial warehouse and stronghold against the Bri-sh. The second mission was to ensure the agricultural and food self-sufficiency of the colony for which he had to develop and expand agriculture that was severely lagging behind. He writes to the Minister « L’agriculture devait être le fondement de ce4e colonie, elle y a été singulièrement négligée ». 6. The first task was entrusted to the Chevalier de Tromelin. 7. For the second mission Poivre found the country in a state of abandon. He examines the environmental reasons for the deficient agriculture and iden-fied two main causes : a. Locusts that had accidentally been introduced to the colony were devastang the food crops, or what lile there was. b. There had been an intense and inconsiderate felling of trees and deforesta-on that was causing and important clima-c effect, that of the reduc-on of rainfall, rainfall without which agricultural food crops could not develop adequately. 8. Poivre sets about taking remedial measures to curtail or even reverse the situa-on. « Ayant fait ces constats Pierre Poivre, mo-vé tant par le besoin d’une grande réforme agricole que par son intérêt dans ces ques-ons scien-fiques, prends une série de mesures écologiques pour la protec-on des ressources naturelles et de la nature. » a. He puts in place legisla-on to regulate the hun-ng of deer, an important food source, the regula-on of fishing, and the protec-on of the mynah, zozo mar=n as we know it in Maurius, introduced from India for the natural control of the locusts. Poivre thereby introduced some very new concepts: Endemism: Les sauterelles….ne sont pas naturels à l’île, mais qui y ont été apportées du temps de M. de La Bourdonnais, and Invasiveness of introduced species: se sont mul=pliés à un tel point que si on ne leur fait pas la guerre la plus vive, toute espèce de culture deviendra impossible dans l’île. b. Having realised the human induced deforesta-on was the primary cause of reduc-on of rainfall and land erosion he proclaimed a very important law, the Règlement Economique of 1769, in which he establishes forested mountain and river reserves, the pas Géométriques reserves and imposes that at least 25% of all concessions be kept forested. This Ordinance will become the very first law worldwide for ecological protec-on, the very first law dealing with human caused environmental disturbance and climate change, climate change in the form of rainfall reduc-on. This puts Mauri-us at the very forefront of this most topical current issue, Climate change, historically placing Mauri-us in the forefront of this environmental combat. This also places on the country as a Small Island State great responsibili-es to lead the fight. What is also important to know is that the Règlement Economique is the founder law of what was to become, through various modifica-ons, changes and amendments, our current law, the Forest and Reserves Act 1983. 9. Poivre was, in fact, an enlightened precursor of the concept of ecology. 10. His interest in the spice business, however, did not falter. From here he sent two more expedi-ons to the Far East that brought back an important cargo of nutmeg and cloves trees and fruits. These were acclima-zed very successfully at Mon Plaisir, Pamplemousses, property he had recently purchased for his own account. From here the spice plants were exported to the other French colonies. It is also from here the Zanzibar was to receive the cloves, eventually making it the world’s leading producer of this spice. Thus, Mauri-us, and in par-cular the Pamplemousses Botanical garden, have played a key central role in this epic as all the spice plants, seeds and fruits from the East passed through here to be acclima-zed and eventually exported elsewhere worldwide. Pierre de B. Baissac President/ 30th May 2019. .