Journal of Geography and Geology; Vol. 10, No. 2; 2018 ISSN 1916-9779 E-ISSN 1916-9787 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 17 The Floristic Heritage Groups of the French Antilles: Operative Elements in the Planning of Natural Environments (The Example of Martinique) Philippe Joseph¹, Kévine Baillard², Jean-Philippe Claude², Yelji Abati², Péguy Major², José Duranty², Stéphane Sophie² & Séverine Ely-Marius² 1 Professor, University of the Antilles, UMR Espace DEV (BIORECA) 2 PhD student, University of the Antilles, UMR Espace DEV (BIORECA) Correspondence: Philippe Joseph, Professor, University of the Antilles, UMR Espace DEV (BIORECA). E-mail: joseph.phil@wanadoo.fr Received: March 31, 2018 Accepted: April 10, 2018 Online Published: May 4, 2018 doi:10.5539/jgg.v10n2p17 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jgg.v10n2p17 Abstract The primary objective of the details which will be discussed in this article is to set out a general framework necessary to understand the dynamics of the multiple plant ecosystems in relation to the processes of humanisation. This will be within a conceptual orientation of human ecology, biogeography and biological ecology, integrating the time and place, as well as anthropisation and its impacts combined with the data from the studies of the dynamics of the biophysical components of the natural environments. The concepts used to support the arguments are taken from macro-ecology and the human sciences. From an overall perspective, we have highlighted the greatly expanded field of dysfunctions with a view to finding solutions. This allowed us to envisage the possibilities for the reorganisation of the environmental management of Martinique. This future management will make it possible to counteract the factors which are currently contributing to the diminishing resilience of the phytocenoses. This is because the resources associated with the latter should guarantee a sustainable development based on a balance between Nature and Society. Keywords: martinique, ecosystem, biodiversity, natural resources, land management, land resilience, sustainable development 1. Introduction The difficulty today in solving environmental problems in many islands which are developed thanks to transfers from the former colonising countries of the Western bloc lies in the conditions that led to their construction. (Leigh et al., 1993; Lobban and Schefter, 1997; Larsen and Simon, 1993; Baban and Wan Yusof, 2001; Baldacchino, 2008; Westercamp and Andreieff, 1989). These conditions are plural and are rooted in the history of occupation and of land use as well as the various phases of the global economy (Srinivasan, 1986; Connell, 2010; McElroy and Parry, 2010). The new world fascinated explorers, as is made clear by the imaginative output of people at the time (Gerbi, 2010; Dew, 2010). This fascination of the discoverers of the Americas was connected to the great opulence of both biological and mineral riches (Graham, 2010). The countries of insular America, in spite of their small size compared to the nearby mainland, were shared up among the great maritime powers of the time (Schmidt, 1997). These territories were the setting for the expansion of the latter. Initially, in the early days of colonisation, the objective related to the use of possible natural resources. Subsequently, the exploitation of the conditions that the islands of America offered, in particular their tropical soils, allowed for the development of a particular agriculture related to the economy of large plantations within a social organisation which was also very specific (the slaveholder society, Higman, 2010; Sheridan, 1974; Carrington, 2003; Adams, 1978; Delawarde, 1935a & b, 1936). The result was the sharp decline of the primitive environments regardless of their characteristics and operating methods, particularly the forest environment predominant on all the island areas (Boudadi-Maligne et al., 2016). The littoral environments suitable for human settlements and agriculture were occupied, as well as much of the middle stage (Joseph, 2015; Alscher, 2011). From 1848, the unusable areas left to Nature in Martinique were the places to which the newly free populations went. These, added to the small colonists relegated out of the plantations, further increased the pressure on the