By Melissa Smith
With the announcement of 13 new marine protected areas, Seychelles has designated 30% of its territorial waters as protected — 10 years ahead of international targets.
The new MPAs total 410,000 square kilometers — an area larger than Germany — and deliver on a debt-for-nature swap that was signed with The Nature Conservancy in February 2016.
Under the National Parks and Nature Conservancy Act, about half of the parks are considered high biodiversity zones. These will become Marine National Parks, meaning almost no human activities — outside of sustainable tourism — will be permitted. The other half are medium biodiversity and sustainable use zones, where activities vital to Seychelles’ economy may continue to operate under new, stricter sustainability regulations.
Located in the middle of the Indian Ocean some 1,000 miles off the coast of Africa, tourism and fisheries sustain the Seychelles economy, making marine protections vital to the archipelago’s long-term wellbeing, President Danny Faure said in an announcement.
“With over 1.35 million square kilometres of ocean, the people of Seychelles have a direct dependence on our ocean resources for food security and livelihoods,” he said. “Developing a Marine Spatial Plan is a way of tackling the sustainable development of the ocean for today and future generations.”
The Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan was created as part of the nation’s unprecedented debt-for-nature swap. The swap exchanged millions of dollars in sovereign debt for ocean protection through the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust.
The plan is transitioning from zoning to implementation, which is set to begin in 2021. Currently, there are 18 additional protected marine areas in Seychelles that have already undergone implementation, including six marine national parks, three special reserves, three fisheries management protected areas, one protected area, and four shell reserves.
“We are proud of this accomplishment,” Faure said, “and hope that other nations will follow suit.”
Bir yanıt bırakın