The Government of Seychelles leads the MSP process and Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE) is the lead authority for the MSP. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is facilitating the MSP process with government, leading all science, technical planning, stakeholder engagement, project management and communications. Financing for the MSP plan process comes from Government, The Nature Conservancy and SeyCCAT.
Executive Committee Chair: Minister Flavien Joubert
Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE)
Executive Committee co-Chair: Minister Jean-Francois Ferrari
Designated Minister of Seychelles, Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy
Steering Committee Co-Chair: Mr. Denis Matatiken
Principal Secretary for Environment
Steering Committee Co-Chair: PS Climate Change
Principal Secretary for Climate Change
MSP Process and Science Lead: Dr. Joanna Smith
Director, Ocean Planning and Mapping, The Nature Conservancy, Global Protect
Dr Joanna Smith is the Seychelles MSP Process and Science Lead and has overall responsibilty for developing the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan including designing the process, leading stakeholder engagement, zoning design, planning tools, science, and management considerations. She is responsible for developing planning tools, technical or scientific products to support decision-making in the planning process, facilitating stakeholder engagement, and incorporating input from stakeholders, other scientists, and local knowledge. At TNC, Dr. Smith is the Director, Ocean Planning and Mapping and the Global MSP Lead for the organization. She has more than 20 years of experience in marine ecology, fisheries, and marine resource management. She has been in the MSP field since 2009 and worked with or advised governments to develop MSP in more than 20 countries. Previously, Dr. Smith was the Science Coordinator to the Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) in British Columbia and Principal at Birdsmith Ecological Research. Dr. Smith is on the IOC-UNESCO MSPglobal expert group, IUCN OECM Working Group, and other international technical groups for MSP and related topics. Dr. Smith received a Ph.D in Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences from University of Washington, Seattle, USA, an M.Sc. in Biology from University of Victoria, Canada.
MSP Project Manager: Ms. Helena Sims
Seychelles MSP Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy, Africa
Ms Sims is the project manager of the MSP. She is responsible for implementing and achieving the MSP initiative by overseeing and representing TNC in relationships with Government agencies, NGO and corporate stakeholders and working closely with the MSP advisory committees. She serves as the secretary to the MSP Steering Committee. She assists in funding proposals, research grants and coordination with other projects. Ms. Sims supports the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) and is on the WIO Regional MSP Advisory Committee. Ms Sims has work experience in Marine Conservation Biology and Project Management. Upon her return from University she has worked at the Research section at the current Seychelles National Parks Authority, as a Project coordinator at the Green Islands Foundation NGO and managing a 4 year GoS-UNDP-GEF Protected Areas Project. Ms. Sims received a B.Sc. in Marine Biology Advanced from the James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
GIS and Spatial Analyst: Mr. Rick Tingey
Principal, Spatial Support Systems LLC
Mr. Tingey provides geospatial data management, analysis, and cartographic support to the MSP process. His efforts provide a technical foundation that supports a quantitative approach to the development of Seychelles’ marine zoning design, and integrates feedback received from the process stakeholders. Mr. Tingey advises planning teams on spatial analysis techniques and procedures, and provides ongoing GIS training and technical support to our partners, to ensure the successful use and implementation of the products that we deliver. Mr. Tingey is currently engaged in First Nations’ GIS program development in Canada and has depth of experience in natural resource planning in diverse geographies including Alaska and the southwestern United States, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada, Republic of Seychelles, Namibia (southwestern Africa), Central and South America, and the Caribbean Basin. Mr. Tingey received a B.Sc. in geography from the University of Utah, USA.
Project Coordinator: Ms Elke Talma
SeyCCAT
Elke is the Projects Coordinator overseeing two projects that support the implementation of the marine protected areas, specifically to enabling the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan and fisheries reforms funded by Ocean5 and The Nature Conservancy. She manages and coordinates project activities, day-to-day project implementation and overall coordination of projects’ outcomes under SeyCCAT’s portfolio. Elke has over ten years of experience in environmental project management and was most recently the Programme Coordinator of the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit, within the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE), overseeing the implementation of multi-stakeholder donor funded projects. She has extensive knowledge in conservation and climate change issues in Seychelles, having worked in turtle conservation, habitat restoration, waste management, rainwater harvesting, climate change education & awareness, energy efficiency and energy conservation, good governance and renewable energy (photovoltaics). Through this work, she has engaged with diverse multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams in Government, private sector, civil society and international organisations. Elke holds a BSc in Marine Biology from the University of Newcastle, UK and Postgraduate Certificate in Integrated Coastal Management from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.
GIS and Government Data Custodian: Mr. Justin Prosper
MACCE
Mr. Prosper has almost 20 years of experience working with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing in the Seychelles, especially in the environmental field. Mr. Prosper has experience and very good knowledge in mapping both terrestrial and marine environments of which his interest lies with the latter environment. Mr. Prosper also has good language and communicating skills which facilitates the GIS related trainings and lectures he gives. His current post at the Department of Climate Change , MEECC, also entails data management and as such he oversees the management of the GEO-database along with other data repositories of the Ministry. He is the data manager on behalf of MEECC for the MSP initiative in Seychelles. Mr. Prosper received an M.Sc. in Geographical Information Science from University of Edinburgh, UK and B.Sc. in Geography with Specialisation in Geo-informatics from Universite de Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
MSP Planner: Ms. Kate Longley-Wood
MSP Science Manager, The Nature Conservancy
Ms. Longley-Wood provides technical support to the MSP, assisting with stakeholder documentation and meeting materials. Kate is the Ocean Mapping Coordinator at TNC, providing technical and logistical support for MSP and ecosystem services. She is the project and data manager for TNC’s Mapping Ocean Wealth project. Previously, she worked as a project manager at SeaPlan supporting ocean planning in the U.S. and her expertise includes marine mammals, ecology, and GIS including as a right whale aerial observer and researcher in the USA. Ms. Longley-Wood received a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University.
Human Resources and Finance Manager: Vania Robert
SeyCCAT
Ms. Robert provides administrative, financial, technical and logistical support to the MSP to deliver stakeholder engagement and process management. Vania is the Executive Assistant for Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) and MSP, assisting the CEO, Board of Directors, Finance and Grants committee of SeyCCAT, and the MSP Core Team. Previously, Vania spent 17 years working with the tourism industry and has 13 years in management at the local and international levels in roles such as Assistant Financial Controller and Head of Finance. Vania has a Diploma in Business Studies from the Seychelles Polytechnic and a HND in Business and Finance from Brunei Darussalam Technical and Vocational Education Council.
Administrative Support: Mrs. Sabrina Renaud
Executive Assistant to the Minister, Ministry Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment
Ms. Renaud provides administrative and logistical support to the MSP, and has been a member of the MSP Core Team since 2014. Ms. Renaud has more than 15 years’ experience in assisting with administrative and logistical support whilst organizing workshops/trainings/meetings. She has been working with the Ministry of Environment for the past 9 years. Ms. Renaud holds a Diploma in Management and Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
TNC Project Director, Chira Schouten
Africa Conservation Director, The Nature Conservancy
Webmaster: SMSP Core Team
The MSP Core Team works with Anne Francis Web Design to maintain the SMSP website.
Updated: January 2024