Seychelles Steps Forward as Commonwealth Champion for Marine Protection
Efforts to protect the ocean have received a major boost with the announcement that Seychelles will lead a Commonwealth Blue Charter action group on marine protected areas.
Seychelles is the latest and 12th country to step forward as a Commonwealth Blue Charter Champion country. The announcement was made at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Seychelles’ Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Charles Bastienne, spoke at a side-event on the Commonwealth Blue Charter. “Seychelles wishes to lead the group because of the great progress we have made at the national and regional level in the establishment and management of marine protected areas. The government of Seychelles believes that in order to compliment the adoption of the Blue Charter and also to achieve sustainable development, Seychelles – being a small island developing state – must play a pivotal role in preserving and protecting our seas and oceans at all costs”.
Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group. Photo: The Commonwealth
On 21 November 2018, Seychelles Cabinet of Ministers approved the MSP Initiative to prepare the nomination file for Milestone 2 for the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan.
On 7 November 2018, Silhouette Cruises supported a NOAA RAMA project that collects meteorological data in the Indian Ocean. The M/V Tethys Supporter will aid in the deployment and recovery of two buoys placed in the Seychelles EEZ.
The meteorological buoys are part of the NOAA RAMA (Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction). This network of buoys collects meteorological data from the surface and below the water. The data is transmitted daily via satellite to a NOAA center. The data is used analyze and predict weather conditions, cyclones, can assist in warning of tsunamis, and for many other scientific purposes. The collected data is free and available for all interested organizations.
The data collected are freely available and may be displayed or downloaded by visiting the RAMA website:
The first MSPSocio-Economic Analysis is underway with economists and fisheries experts to better understand the value of the tuna fishery and how/if the MSP affects this economy in Seychelles. The tuna socio-economic assessment is being conducted at this time because the MSP zones are in deep water. The objectives are:
Estimate the value of the industrial tuna fishery for the Seychelles’ economy
Estimate the possible economic impact of the MSP Zone 1 – High biodiversity protection areas on the industrial fisheries in 2021 when the zones are implemented
Explore other socio-economic analyses to understand the sensitivity of the Seychelles’ economy to changes in the industrial tuna fishery and external economic factors.
The consultancy final report is anticipated by December 2018.
A Second Socio-Economic Analysis will be undertaken once the MSP zoning moves in to the shallow waters (<200 m depth) and Zone 1 areas are proposed. The second analysis will include domestic semi-industrial and artisanal fisheries as well as sport fishing (including marine charters) and tourism. New spatial data will be needed to do this analysis, currently not available, as well as data for ecosystem services so as to elaborate on the potential benefits of the MSP zoning and marine protections.
May 2016. Frozen yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) condenses the hot, humid Seychelles air as it is unloaded from the Dolomieu (La Reunion). Victoria, Mahé Island, Seychelles. Industrial commercial fishing is one of the primary industries driving the Seychelles’s economy. Photo credit: Jason Houston
May 2016. Mackrel fishermen fish along the shore with small boats and siene nets, trapping fish against the beach and hauling the catch up onto the sand. Nearshore artisianal and semi industrial fishing is an important part of Seychelles’s culture and economy. Photo credit: Jason Houston
Stakeholders will be contacted soon for a schedule of meetings in late September through early November for review of MSP draft outputs including a revised draft zoning design and activities tables based on input received Feb-Mar and May-Jun 2018.
Additional stakeholder meetings may be scheduled in September for review and input of draft deliverables related to MSP outputs and the marine spatial plan.
For more information please contact Ms. Helena Sims, MSP Project Manager.
Email: info@seymsp.com
Port Glaud, Mahé Island, Seychelles. Photo credit: Jason Houston
The Seychelles Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Initiative was initiated in 2014 and focuses on resilience and sustainable use of marine ecosystems. The MSP is identifying zones for marine protection that meet high and medium biodiversity objectives (15% of the EEZ each in each zone). In February 2018, the first phase of the process was completed with the creation of two new protected areas covering a total area of more than 200,000 km2. The MSP Initiative has now entered the second phase, with the ultimate goal of 30% of Seychelles’ marine environment zoned for conservation and sustainable-use by 2020. Meeting these targets will pose challenges stemming from the socio-economic impacts that may result from changes in how users access the resources. It is therefore vital to consider the trade-offs between socio-economic impacts, which may be short-term in nature, and the long-term benefits from ecosystem goods and services, which are poorly understood or quantified in Seychelles.
The Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change is now recruiting a Consultancy Firm or Institution to conduct an ‘Evaluation of ecosystem goods and services for Seychelles’ existing and proposed protected area system’.
The consultancy will consist of two main work streams.
Firstly, a gap analysis will be undertaken to document and compile relevant data and research on the proposed zones, identifying clear gaps or constraints for the application of methods commonly applied in evaluating marine ecosystem goods and services.
The output from the gap analysis will then be used to select applicable methods for evaluating ecosystems goods and services, which in the second stream will be applied to an analysis of the goods and services to Seychelles from the existing and expanded protected areas.
Consultants can indicate their interest in providing the services by submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI), which shall consist of a cover letter, profile of firm or institution and curriculum vitae.
The deadline for submission of EOI is 7September 2018 and should be clearly marked using the Subject Line ‘‘Evaluation of MPA Ecosystem Goods and Services”. Interested applicants may obtain the full Terms of Reference (download TOR here) and further technical details from the Director General Biodiversity Conservation and Management Division (m.mjeremiemuzungaile@env.gov.sc).
Shortlisted firms will be requested to prepare technical and financial proposals. The procurement process will be conducted according to the World Bank’s procedures. Complete EOI should be delivered in hard copy or by email to:
Principal Secretary
Environment Department
Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change
Seychelles
Phone +248 467512
Email: adecommarmond@gov.sc
Do you have experience with costing or budgeting for Marine Protected Areas? The Seychelles MSP Initiative is looking for information and examples about the financial costs of implementing marine protected areas, including large-scale MPAs (150,000 sq km+).
Click here for more information and to contribute. The project team will share this collected information back. However, if your documents cannot be shared publicly, please email information directly toinfo@seymsp.com.
Please contact Helena Sims, MSP Project Manager, for more information. Email: info@seymsp.com
Quebec City, 9 June 2018: Seychelles got the attention of the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations today when President Danny Faure addressed them on the islands’ innovative financing for the blue economy and ocean sustainability.
President Danny Faure grabbed the attention of Canadian, island and other leaders at a roundtable of small island developing states (SIDS) at the G7 summit in Quebec, Canada today.
This year’s G7 chair Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada had invited President Faure and the leaders of 10 other island and developing countries to join France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States at a special session on ‘healthy, productive and resilient oceans and seas, coasts and communities’. Speaking at the outreach session in the Quebec resort town of Charlevoix, President Faure also called on Mr Trudeau and Canada to play a “prominent and proactive” role in high seas negotiations that begin at the United Nations in New York this September. “Our ocean is our pathway to prosperity,” Mr Faure told leaders of the seven richest western nations as he talked about the Seychelles’ blue economy roadmap and marine spatial plan.
