For island lovers, here’s Bora Bora, the first born. This photo from space hints at her fatal beauty.
Can international tourism be reconciled with the preservation of fragile ecosystems?

A 9-hour ferry ride from Tahiti, the island named “Vavau” in Polynesian myths is at the heart of the Pacific Ocean, at the center of an equidistant triangle between Chile, Japan and New Zealand.
Discovered by early Polynesian explorers between 300 and 700 A.D., it was not placed on a European map until 1722 by Dutch navigator Jakob Roggeveen.

He named the island Bora Bora, distorting the Polynesian term “Popora”, meaning “the eldest”.

Today, this lagoon is a French Polynesian territory, with 38km2, 10,000 residents and 120,000 tourists a year. In the center of the island, the remains of an extinct volcano form two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, a spectacular 727m-high peak.
Bora-Bora enjoys a warm climate all year round, between 22°C and 30°C, and the water in the lagoon follows the same temperature range.

Since opening up to tourism in the 70s, the archipelago has experienced the highest tourist pressure in the Pacific, with 120,000 tourists a year.
An airport. Luxury hotels.

Overtourism and climate change are compounding the threats to drinking water and coral.
And yet, ecological voluntarism was born very early on in Bora Bora.
The commune has become a laboratory for avant-garde practices, under the leadership of its Mayor since 1989, Gaston Tong Sang. Turquoise turns to green

Although artificial coral blooms to the delight of tourists, the islet could have sunk under concrete and pollution. However, ships with more than 1,000 passengers are prohibited.

Drinking water is treated by two biological treatment plants using reed filters.

Awareness-raising campaigns and pricing by the cubic metre have prompted hoteliers and the general public to take dramatic action against waste. Every cm3 of water is recovered.
All visitors to the atoll are made aware of initiatives to save wildlife and restore coral.

See the documentary on Bora Bora in the portail des outremer.

A pioneer in transition, Bora Bora is aiming for the royal flush: zero carbon, zero waste, zero agricultural pollutants, zero exclusion, zero vulnerability.

Can international tourism be reconciled with the preservation of fragile ecosystems?
Time will tell.
For Bora Bora is a reflection of the entire Earth:
a frail archipelago under pressure and with limited resources.