The Seychelles MSP, Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Energy, and the SWIOFish3 World Bank have started a project with The Nature Conservancy’s Mapping Ocean Wealth team to evaluate ecosystem services in the marine protection areas.

This project started in August 2020 and is scheduled to continue through June 2021.An inception workshop was held in September and presentations given remotely to Seychelles participants from the Mapping Ocean Wealth team.

Ecosystem services are the benefits natural ecosystems provide to people. That broad definition covers a vast array—from the tangible fish sold in a market or served in a family home, to the invisible influence of a seagrass meadow removing some of the world’s excess carbon dioxide, subtly shifting the chemical balance of both the water and the air above. A recent study on the ecosystem services from mangroves found that they are critical not only as nursery habitats for fish and invertebrates but for coastal communities also. Globally, there are 4.1 million fishers associated with mangrove ecosystems. For more information about marine ecosystem services, please see the Mapping Ocean Wealth website.

A blue water mangrove provides critical habitat for juvenile reef fish in Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia, Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: © Ethan Daniels