Metal Detecting Laws in New Caledonia

Heritage-purpose excavation requires provincial authorization; ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved.

• In North Province, Code de l’environnement (Environment Code) article224-1 requires the assembly president’s prior authorization for archaeological, paleontological, historical, prehistoric or artistic excavation or test pits on one’s own or another’s land, after consulting competent customary authorities. In South Province, Délibération n° 14-90/APS (heritage protection deliberation) article34 similarly covers the listed heritage-purpose excavation or test pits; the president consults the customary council where applicable. These purpose-specific provisions do not establish a general permit requirement for every modern lost-item search or every small recovery hole.
• North articles224-4–224-6 and South articles36–39 separately govern withdrawal, official excavation and temporary occupation. Authorization for archaeological work is not a right to retain finds or an exemption from protected-area rules.
• For the Coral Sea reserves listed in Arrêté n° 2023-2955/GNC (Coral Sea reserve order), consolidated November6,2024, article6(9) bars work changing terrain, including underwater terrain, or vegetation except normal maintenance; articles6(3)–(4) restrict collection, harm, possession and transport of the listed natural and archaeological materials. Article12 extends the restrictions to the named natural reserves. This does not cover every New Caledonian beach or every provincial park.
• For the listed Coral Sea reserves, Loi du pays n°2022-1 (marine protected-area law) articles5 and7 limit integral-reserve entry to expressly authorized scientific, research or exploration activities, or natural or cultural heritage monitoring, management or conservation. The New Caledonia government’s article5 authorization lasts at most three years, requires liability insurance and must be compatible with the park management plan. Order article7 allows activity derogations within that authorization; sampling wildlife, plants, minerals, fossils, historical or archaeological remains is allowed only for scientific purposes when it cannot occur elsewhere and the quantity is strictly necessary for the scientific objective. For the listed natural reserves, order articles11–12 require government access authorization under the law’s article8, compatible with the reserve’s preservation objectives and limited to one entry or, for an article5 activity, at most one year. Activity derogations may be granted within that authorization only for scientific research; preparation, conduct or monitoring of invasive or nuisance species control, regulation or eradication; ecological or archaeological and cultural heritage restoration; light removable shelters or refuges; and the specified checking, monitoring, maintenance, installation or replacement of navigation-safety or communication infrastructure. The law’s article9 exempts reserve-access restrictions for force majeure connected with a navigation incident or saving human life at sea, and for the specified management, monitoring, enforcement and sea-rescue personnel acting in their duties. The advance-notice requirement, with notice after the operation in an emergency, applies to those agents and mandated representatives. Article10 preserves rapid continuous vessel passage, subject to lawful navigation corridors and international-convention conditions. Order article2 separately exempts defense missions from its articles6 and12 activity prohibitions. These access and activity exceptions do not confer ownership of finds or an unrestricted recreational recovery right.

Ownership and removal rights depend on the object and provincial rules; ordinary finder title remains unresolved.

• Code civil applicable en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Civil Code), article716, requires hidden or buried property with no person able to establish ownership and discovery purely by chance. On the finder’s own land the treasure belongs to that finder; on another’s land it is divided equally between finder and landowner. A deliberate detector search is not automatically a chance discovery. Article717 leaves washed-ashore objects and unreclaimed lost things to special laws. Article2276 permits an owner who has lost an object or had it stolen to reclaim it for three years from the date of the loss or theft, subject to article2277’s purchase-reimbursement situations; this is not an automatic three-year finder-title rule.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.
• South Province article40 divides movable excavation discoveries equally between province and landowner, not finder and owner. Articles35/42 preserve compensated public-interest acquisition and the president’s three-month right to renounce purchase after valuation, with expert costs still payable. North Province articles224-3/224-8 also allow compensated provincial claims; article224-8 splits compensation between finder and owner without specifying equal shares. The old Loyalty heritage reproduction is not proof of a complete current title regime.

Heritage discoveries have provincial reporting duties; a uniform ordinary-loss rule remains unconfirmed.

• North Province article224-7 requires both the finder and the immovable-property owner to report qualifying discoveries immediately to both the local mayor and North Province. South Province article41 requires both persons to report immediately to the mayor or, failing that, the local gendarmerie, which informs the permanent delegates. Authorized excavations in each province also require an account, preservation and immediate reporting to the provincial president. These are heritage-triggered duties, not a verified uniform deadline for all ordinary losses.
• The Loyalty Islands 1990 heritage deliberation is available only as an older consolidated reproduction and current gazette metadata/citations. Its complete amendment chain is not verified. A historical Michel Corbasson park reception-desk provision does not create a national reporting deadline.

Recreational recovery that changes terrain is barred in the listed Coral Sea reserves.

• For the Coral Sea reserves listed in Arrêté n° 2023-2955/GNC (Coral Sea reserve order), consolidated November6,2024, article6(9) bars work changing terrain, including underwater terrain, or vegetation except normal maintenance; articles6(3)–(4) restrict collection, harm, possession and transport of the listed natural and archaeological materials. Article12 extends the restrictions to the named natural reserves. This does not cover every New Caledonian beach or every provincial park.
• For the listed Coral Sea reserves, Loi du pays n°2022-1 (marine protected-area law) articles5 and7 limit integral-reserve entry to expressly authorized scientific, research or exploration activities, or natural or cultural heritage monitoring, management or conservation. The New Caledonia government’s article5 authorization lasts at most three years, requires liability insurance and must be compatible with the park management plan. Order article7 allows activity derogations within that authorization; sampling wildlife, plants, minerals, fossils, historical or archaeological remains is allowed only for scientific purposes when it cannot occur elsewhere and the quantity is strictly necessary for the scientific objective. For the listed natural reserves, order articles11–12 require government access authorization under the law’s article8, compatible with the reserve’s preservation objectives and limited to one entry or, for an article5 activity, at most one year. Activity derogations may be granted within that authorization only for scientific research; preparation, conduct or monitoring of invasive or nuisance species control, regulation or eradication; ecological or archaeological and cultural heritage restoration; light removable shelters or refuges; and the specified checking, monitoring, maintenance, installation or replacement of navigation-safety or communication infrastructure. The law’s article9 exempts reserve-access restrictions for force majeure connected with a navigation incident or saving human life at sea, and for the specified management, monitoring, enforcement and sea-rescue personnel acting in their duties. The advance-notice requirement, with notice after the operation in an emergency, applies to those agents and mandated representatives. Article10 preserves rapid continuous vessel passage, subject to lawful navigation corridors and international-convention conditions. Order article2 separately exempts defense missions from its articles6 and12 activity prohibitions. These access and activity exceptions do not confer ownership of finds or an unrestricted recreational recovery right.
• This scoped finding concerns detecting involving recovery work that changes terrain in the actual reserves designated by articles3/8, rather than all marine space or mere detector possession. The original order commenced January1,2024; the current consolidation includes the November2024 plan amendment.

Prior authorization is required for the specified heritage-purpose excavation in North Province.

• North Province only. Article224-1 covers own or another’s land and objects of prehistoric, historic, artistic, paleontological or archaeological interest. The provincial assembly president must first consult the competent customary authorities.
• The authorized excavation must produce an account; discoveries must be preserved and immediately declared to the provincial president. This rule does not establish a permit requirement for all modern-loss recovery holes or confer find ownership.

Ordinary finder title remains unresolved; North Province has special heritage-claim rules.

• North Province only. Articles224-3/224-8 allow public-interest provincial claims with compensation fixed by agreement or expert, at provincial expert expense. Article224-8 divides compensation between finder and owner without a stated equal-share rule.
• Code civil applicable en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Civil Code), article716, requires hidden or buried property with no person able to establish ownership and discovery purely by chance. On the finder’s own land the treasure belongs to that finder; on another’s land it is divided equally between finder and landowner. A deliberate detector search is not automatically a chance discovery. Article717 leaves washed-ashore objects and unreclaimed lost things to special laws. Article2276 permits an owner who has lost an object or had it stolen to reclaim it for three years from the date of the loss or theft, subject to article2277’s purchase-reimbursement situations; this is not an automatic three-year finder-title rule.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.

Qualifying heritage discoveries must be reported immediately in North Province.

• North Province only. Article224-7 requires both finder and immovable-property owner to notify both the local mayor and North Province when work or any event reveals the listed old dwellings/burials, inscriptions or objects of prehistoric, historic, artistic, paleontological or archaeological interest.
• Authorized-excavation discoveries must also be preserved and immediately reported to the provincial president. No ordinary-loss deadline is inferred.

Prior authorization is required for the specified heritage-purpose excavation in South Province.

• South Province only. Article34 covers own or another’s land and objects of prehistoric, historic, artistic or archaeological interest. The provincial president consults the competent customary council where applicable.
• The authorized excavation must produce an account; discoveries must be preserved and immediately declared to the provincial president. This rule does not establish a permit requirement for all modern-loss recovery holes or confer find ownership.

Ordinary finder title remains unresolved; South Province has special heritage-claim rules.

• South Province only. Article40 shares movable excavation discoveries equally between province and landowner, with valuation by agreement or expert at the applicant’s expense and the article35 claim power preserved. Articles35/42 allow compensated provincial claims; the president may renounce purchase within three months after valuation, still bearing expert costs. Article42 otherwise refers chance finds to Civil Code716 and divides compensation under ordinary law.
• Code civil applicable en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Civil Code), article716, requires hidden or buried property with no person able to establish ownership and discovery purely by chance. On the finder’s own land the treasure belongs to that finder; on another’s land it is divided equally between finder and landowner. A deliberate detector search is not automatically a chance discovery. Article717 leaves washed-ashore objects and unreclaimed lost things to special laws. Article2276 permits an owner who has lost an object or had it stolen to reclaim it for three years from the date of the loss or theft, subject to article2277’s purchase-reimbursement situations; this is not an automatic three-year finder-title rule.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.

Qualifying heritage discoveries must be reported immediately in South Province.

• South Province only. Article41 requires both finder and immovable-property owner to notify the mayor or, failing that, the local gendarmerie when work or any event reveals the listed monuments, ruins, old dwellings/burials, inscriptions or objects of prehistoric, historic, artistic or archaeological interest. The recipient informs permanent delegates.
• Authorized-excavation discoveries must also be preserved and immediately reported to the provincial president. No ordinary-loss deadline is inferred.

Recreational detecting is barred in Göfeni, Jaape and Masabiel reserves.

• Loyalty Islands only: current Environment Code article214-10 permits no activity in Réserve coutumière intégrale de Göfeni (Göfeni integral customary reserve), except reef-observation-network monitoring. In Réserves coutumières adaptées de Jaape et Masabiel (Jaape and Masabiel adapted customary reserves), only traditional fishing, line/rod fishing and that monitoring are allowed; all other activities are barred. These unit rules are not a prohibition for the whole province.
• Article214-14 provides departure and landing-stage closure measures for specified weather/tsunami safety situations. Other unit management and access rules remain relevant; no ownership or removal right follows from access.

Activities outside customary and ecological easements on Loyalty maritime public domain require the specified authorization.

• In the Loyalty Islands, Environment Code article232-7 requires provincial presidential authorization for other activities on provincial maritime public domain outside ecological and customary easements, except school-organized activities; customary authorities are consulted, the agreement of relevant customary authorities and landowners is collected, and silence after the two-month decision period means rejection. Article232-2 excludes activities authorized within those easements and vessels in distress. The right of access in article231-2 is conditioned on environment, traditional practices and customary land ownership; it does not confer unrestricted detector or excavation rights.
• Loyalty Islands only; this activity authorization is separate from vessel-entry formalities, heritage excavation approval, protected-unit bans, mineral rights and find ownership. It does not authorize all recovery methods.

The complete current Loyalty Islands excavation regime remains unconfirmed.

• Loyalty Islands only. Délibération n°90-66/API (heritage protection deliberation) is captured as a November2006 reproduction; the current publisher indexes the original and a July2026 instrument citing it, but a complete operative amendment/repeal chain remains unverified. Its historical excavation, reporting and property provisions are not promoted to a currently confirmed province-wide verdict.
• In the Loyalty Islands, Environment Code article232-7 requires provincial presidential authorization for other activities on provincial maritime public domain outside ecological and customary easements, except school-organized activities; customary authorities are consulted, the agreement of relevant customary authorities and landowners is collected, and silence after the two-month decision period means rejection. Article232-2 excludes activities authorized within those easements and vessels in distress. The right of access in article231-2 is conditioned on environment, traditional practices and customary land ownership; it does not confer unrestricted detector or excavation rights.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.

Current finder title and heritage-property exceptions in the Loyalty Islands remain unresolved.

• Loyalty Islands only. Délibération n°90-66/API (heritage protection deliberation) is captured as a November2006 reproduction; the current publisher indexes the original and a July2026 instrument citing it, but a complete operative amendment/repeal chain remains unverified. Its historical excavation, reporting and property provisions are not promoted to a currently confirmed province-wide verdict.
• In the Loyalty Islands, Environment Code article232-7 requires provincial presidential authorization for other activities on provincial maritime public domain outside ecological and customary easements, except school-organized activities; customary authorities are consulted, the agreement of relevant customary authorities and landowners is collected, and silence after the two-month decision period means rejection. Article232-2 excludes activities authorized within those easements and vessels in distress. The right of access in article231-2 is conditioned on environment, traditional practices and customary land ownership; it does not confer unrestricted detector or excavation rights.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.
• Code civil applicable en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Civil Code), article716, requires hidden or buried property with no person able to establish ownership and discovery purely by chance. On the finder’s own land the treasure belongs to that finder; on another’s land it is divided equally between finder and landowner. A deliberate detector search is not automatically a chance discovery. Article717 leaves washed-ashore objects and unreclaimed lost things to special laws. Article2276 permits an owner who has lost an object or had it stolen to reclaim it for three years from the date of the loss or theft, subject to article2277’s purchase-reimbursement situations; this is not an automatic three-year finder-title rule.

A complete current Loyalty Islands discovery-reporting rule remains unconfirmed.

• Loyalty Islands only. Délibération n°90-66/API (heritage protection deliberation) is captured as a November2006 reproduction; the current publisher indexes the original and a July2026 instrument citing it, but a complete operative amendment/repeal chain remains unverified. Its historical excavation, reporting and property provisions are not promoted to a currently confirmed province-wide verdict.
• In the Loyalty Islands, Environment Code article232-7 requires provincial presidential authorization for other activities on provincial maritime public domain outside ecological and customary easements, except school-organized activities; customary authorities are consulted, the agreement of relevant customary authorities and landowners is collected, and silence after the two-month decision period means rejection. Article232-2 excludes activities authorized within those easements and vessels in distress. The right of access in article231-2 is conditioned on environment, traditional practices and customary land ownership; it does not confer unrestricted detector or excavation rights.
• Article18 subjects customary land and things on it belonging to persons with customary civil status to custom. Article43 preserves each public entity’s ownership of its own public and private estate. Article44’s ownerless-property rule excludes customary lands; a lost object is not automatically ownerless.