UMR - Ecosystèmes Insulaires Océaniens
The Unité Mixte de Recherche (multi-partner research unit) Ecosystèmes Insulaires Océaniens (Oceania Island Ecosystems) (UMR-241 EIO) was set up in 2012 at the initiative of the Université de la Polynésie Française (UPF - University of French Polynesia), IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement - Research Institute for Development) and the Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), as part of a five-year project (2012-2016). It was the first UMR in any discipline to be set up at the Université de la Polynésie Française and at the ILM, and more broadly, the first French UMR with staff entirely based outside continental France.
The actions of the UMR are centred on a scientific project with the overall aim of analysing the interactions Resources - Environment - Uses within island ecosystems. This research unit was set up to meet a need for a more structured and more federated organisation of French Polynesia's research capacity. This has involved the pooling of human, technical and financial resources between the partner institutions, in order to respond in a coordinated manner to French Polynesia's requirements and to the major scientific issues confronting the island ecosystems of Oceania.