A/HRC/18/35/Add.6 300,000 hectares of land on Grand Terre is now customary land, equivalent to the amount of privately owned land on this island, the largest of the islands that form New Caledonia. 13 31. Nevertheless, while the land redistribution process has resulted in the transfer of significant tracts of land to the Kanak people, Kanak representatives have expressed frustration that their land claims had been stalled after submission to ADRAF, and that numerous land claims remain outstanding. Furthermore, the Nouméa Accord (art. 1.4) provides for the creation of a customary land survey and registry to assist with resolving land disputes, but to date this provision has not been implemented. The Customary Senate, which has a seat on the Board of ADRAF, has expressed an interest in taking a leadership role in the Agency in order to establish the customary land registry and a trust fund for the development of customary land, as well as to create a new mechanism for the resolution of land disputes arising between indigenous individuals or clans.14 Access to the sea 32. Sea access is important to the Kanak people for subsistence fishing and shellfish harvesting, and for ceremonies Also, for some clans, the sea is an integral part of clan identity. However, the Special Rapporteur heard from several Kanak sources that their access to fishing areas in some places is blocked by owners of private property adjacent to coastal areas. 33. The Special Rapporteur notes a potential incompatibility between the State legal system, under which maritime and coastal areas are public domain, and traditional Kanak resource and land use in these areas. The Special Rapporteur heard complaints from Kanak chiefs of their inability to exclude others from coastal areas during ceremonies, which impinges on their ability to practice their religious customs and ceremonies. This can lead to conflict, as in one example in Loyalty Islands, when a Kanak mayor attempted to prevent tourists from accessing the beach during a yam ceremony and was taken to court. 34. The Special Rapporteur notes that although the Kanak are subject to the same fishing permit requirements as all New Caledonian citizens, the provinces may give exemptions to Kanak people for ceremonial purposes, particularly for capturing tortoises and dugongs, or for fishing in bio-reserves.15 Extractive industries and environmental protection 35. Nickel extraction has taken place in New Caledonia since the mineral was first discovered there in the 1860s. Typically, nickel mining has been carried out on lands considered to be public lands, but to which the Kanak people continue to have cultural ties. Mining activities in proximity to Kanak communities have invariably affected the natural environment on which Kanak people depend. In the past, many small miners operated open-pit mines throughout the central massif with minimal regulation, which led to considerable water and soil pollution and degradation. The eventual establishment of large- 13 14 15 See ADRAF, Cartographie des Terres Coutumières, available at http://www.adraf.nc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=78. Customary Senate, Report of the Customary Senate of New Caledonia on the Current Situation of the Kanak People of Kanaky-New Caledonia (8 Feburary 2011). Fishing in New Caledonia is regulated by the provinces; provincial fishing regulations, including exemptions available to Kanak for ceremonial purposes by the President of the relevant Provincial Assembly, are contained in the Memento sur la reglementation des pêches maritimes (June 2004) of the Service de la Marine Marchande et des Pêches Maritimes, available at https://www.spc.int/coastfish/Countries/NCaledonia/Nouvelle-Caledonie-regs.pdf. 11