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IUCN Congress Newsletter: Remaining ocean champions, not victims

Cousin Island Special Reserve was the island famously bought for conservation by BirdLife International in 1968, and it is now managed by Nature Seychelles. I visited the island at the beginning of the year to inspect catastrophic coastal erosion that had occurred, and it was the first time I had seen anything like it since we took over management.

 Everything was affected. Dozens of hawksbill turtle nests had been washed away, exposed or saturated with water during the nesting season. Infrastructure was also affected: from our photovoltaic array that powers the island, to wardens’ houses, the visitor shelter, field station and the helipad. At that time, it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage our ecotourism program due to persistent bad weather. This affects revenue that not only runs the island, but is pumped back into conservation. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are facing a collapse in tourism and conservation efforts at Nature Seychelles. We have to act fast to adapt to these changes.

Read the rest of this article by Dr. Nirmal Shah’s article which appears in the latest IUCN Congress Newsletter focusing on supporting healthy oceans and coasts through conservation.

Everything was affected. Dozens of hawksbill turtle nests had been washed away, exposed or saturated with water during the nesting season. Infrastructure was also affected: from our photovoltaic array that powers the island, to wardens’ houses, the visitor shelter, field station and the helipad. At that time, it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage our ecotourism program due to persistent bad weather. This affects revenue that not only runs the island, but is pumped back into conservation. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are facing a collapse in tourism and conservation efforts at Nature Seychelles. We have to act fast to adapt to these changes.

The Seychelles Seatizens fish identification website and database is a free to use information resource on marine species in Seychelles, and currently provides information on 496 species and continuing to expand its portfolio. Species can be searched by scientific, English, Creole and French names; by taxa or by image and the site can be visited HERE!


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Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy
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P.O Box 408
Republic of Seychelles


+248 4672300

info@mofbe.gov.sc