The Seychelles MSP has a new colour Infographic! This one page summarises the key aspects of the MSP process plus the timeline since 2014.
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Marine Ecosystem Services
A new report is available for ecosystem services in Seychelles marine protection areas and MPAs! Finalised in Jun 2022, The Nature Conservancy’s Mapping Ocean Wealth team worked with Seychelles’ stakeholders to quantify, map and model ecosystem goods and services provided by Seychelles’ Marine Protected Areas and marine protection areas. Information and the report can be found here on the SMSP website. The project timeline, methods, maps and other info about this project can be viewed on The Nature Conservancy’s Mapping Ocean Wealth in Seychelles Online Project Site.
Funding and other support was provided by the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE).
Frontiers e-Book IMCC5
The Seychelles MSP is pleased to announce the proceedings from the 5th International Marine Conservation Congress have been published in an e-Book and is now available online.
Research Topic 5th International Marine Conservation Congress.
We are pleased to tell you that a Frontiers e-book, comprising all the articles featured in your Research Topic, has been compiled and is now available online on our website, here.
Alternatively, you can also access the e-book via the Research Topic homepage, where all articles are also individually available.
WIOMSA 2022
The Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), the Sustainable Seas Trust and the Nairobi Convention are pleased to make the second announcement and call for abstracts for the Twelfth WIOMSA Scientific Symposium. The Symposium will be held as a hybrid virtual/ in-person Symposium at the Boardwalk Convention Centre in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa on 10-15 October 2022.
The Symposium Theme
The theme of the 12th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium – A New Decade of Western Indian Ocean Science– is inspired by the current global and regional goals including the UN Sustainable Development Goals , the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Decade of Ocean Restoration, as well as regional goals such as the Nairobi Convention ‘s COP 10 decisions and the most recent advances in the ocean and climate science. The 12th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium aims to mobilize the WIO marine and coastal community behind the ideas of sustainable development and serves to focus the research and technological development in ocean science on existentially important issues of protection and sustainable use of the ocean.
The call for abstracts
Abstracts are invited on any topic related to the coastal and marine environment of the WIO region focusing on the 12th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium objectives, theme and sub-themes; as outlined in the Guidelines for abstract submission. Abstracts must be received by WIOMSA by no later than 22nd April 2022. Abstracts must be submitted online here: 12th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium Abstracts.
Featured Image (c) WIOMSA 2022.
Consultancy Opportunity
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE) is seeking a company, or consortium, to prepare management plans for three MSP Zone 2 areas.
Application Process: Click here for the Advert
Terms of Reference: Click here for the ToR
Deadline: Friday 25 February 2022 at 15h30 local time (Seychelles)
Contact info: Interested applicants may obtain further details by submitting an email enquiry to Mrs. Meggy Tirant on meggy.tirant@gov.sc of SWIOFish3.
January 2022 Update
Please see below for the January 2022 update of the Seychelles MSP Initiative.
Implementation Governance. An interim option for implementation was approved by Cabinet on 11 Aug 2021 to use the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), under MACCE. An amendment to the EPA will ensure inter-Ministerial and cross-sectoral communication and coordination as per the Guiding Principles identified in 2018-2019 for the Seychelles Ocean Authority. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for a consultancy has been developed and advertised. An operational framework will be developed by Mar 2022.
Click here to open or download the PDF newsletter for January 2022.
Seychelles’ Ecosystem Services
The Nature Conservancy’s Mapping Ocean Wealth team has completed a more than one year project to evaluate ecosystem services in the context of Seychelles marine protection areas. This project was led and supported by the Ministry Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE) and the World Bank SWIOFish3 programme.
The purpose of this study was to quantify the ecosystem goods and services provided by Seychelles Protected Area System. All maps and data are available from the Mapping Ocean Wealth in Seychelles Online Map Viewer and Data Catalog.
The Final Report will be posted soon!
Key findings from this study include the following:
- In Seychelles, approximately 90% (1,149 km) of shorelines benefit from protection by fringing coral reefs, with 77% (889 km) of these shorelines located in or adjacent to protected areas. Most of the latter, however, are far from human habitation and of the 44,280 people who live in low-lying (<30m) coastal areas only about 18% receive risk reduction from reefs that fall within protected areas.
- Every protected area in Seychelles contains blue carbon from either seagrass, mangroves, or both, with the total sum of blue carbon found in protected areas estimated to be 156.7 million metric tons (Mt). The numbers are dominated by the contribution of seagrasses most notably from the Mahé Plateau.
- Within Seychelles, we estimate that coral reefs are generating US$51.5 million annually from on-reef activities such as snorkeling and diving and that these activities generate the equivalent of 30,156 visitors to the Seychelles.
- Natural values of the beaches in Seychelles are estimated to be generating a combined total of US$160 million of tourism expenditure annually with 94,000 visitors who are attracted specifically to the natural aspects of Seychelles’ beaches.
The Nature Conservancy – Mapping Ocean Wealth
MSPglobal Guidebook
The Seychelles MSP Initiative and the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) are featured in the new MSPglobal International Guide on MSP.
MSPglobal International Guide on Marine/Maritime Spatial Planning
The MSPglobal International Guide is the result of a joint initiative by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) to support the development and implementation of MSP processes worldwide.
The purpose is to assist governments, partners and MSP practitioners globally in the development of marine spatial plans, and to capture the evolution and lessons learned globally on MSP since the first guide was published in 2009 by IOC-UNESCO. A guiding principle in developing the guide was to showcase inspiring examples of MSP for users to consider and reflect upon, which they might apply in their own context according to the resources they have available.
August 2021 Update
The August 2021 update for the Seychelles MSP Initiative is now available.
To download the PDF document – click here
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). Led by MACCE and supported by TNC, SeyCCAT, and Pew, the MSP is assisting with data for seagrass, mangroves and coral reefs. Seychelles’ updated NDCs were submitted in July 2021 and include a commitment to apply nature-based solutions comprising mangrove and seagrass protections. See this link to Seychelle’s updated NDCs.
The seagrass Thalassodendron ciliatum formed dense meadows at Cosmoledo Atoll, Seychelles.
World Ocean Day 2021
