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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Plant exhibition on show at three major hotels |27 May 2013

Plant exhibition on show at three major hotels

Entitled ‘Our lives depend on plants / Nou lavi i depan lo laplant’, the exhibition aims to raise awareness about plants and their importance in our daily lives.
It forms part of the ‘Herbarium Project’ funded mainly by the GEF Small Grants Programme.

Three major hotels on Mahé took up the challenge of hosting the exhibition, each finding a suitable location where both staff and guests could visit and learn about Seychelles plants.

At Banyan Tree resort, Anse Intendance, the venue was the Chez Lamar restaurant, a beautiful colonial- style house that exudes old-world charm. Chez Lamar is situated next to a freshwater wetland, which created a lovely environmental ambience for an exhibition about plants. Among the visitors was one staff member who excelled at guessing which spices were hidden in ten small boxes. With such a sensitive sense of smell, perhaps he should think about changing his job to become a wine or coffee taster! A group of students came from the French School and enjoyed the plant exhibition, then went on to explore the wetland, around which the hotel has erected a series of information boards showing the wildlife found there.

At Ephelia resort, in the Port Glaud district, the exhibition was out in the open under a marquee, easily seen by both staff and guests as they passed by. Even landscape staff discovered there were new things that they had not known about Seychelles plants. And most people did not realise just how much we rely on plants to keep us alive. Even plastics have a plant origin, as most plastic is derived from petroleum, which formed from tiny plants and animals that lived in the sea many millions of years ago. Students from English River school and from the Independent school wildlife club certainly enjoyed themselves discovering about the importance of plants.

The last venue was Le Meridien Barbarons, in the Grande Anse district, which chose the foyer of their conference centre as the location for the display. A good number of the hotel staff came to see what the exhibition was about and the hotel management reported that their feedback was very positive. One Italian family went away with a lot of new information while their children took photos of the exhibits to show their friends when they returned home. Local people from outside the hotel also visited, including wildlife club members, who came after school.

This collaboration between the hotels, a non-governmental organisation and a government agency provided a great opportunity for many people to learn more about plants and showed that fun can be had in the process, especially in a setting which is rather different from a classroom or a workshop.

School students after touring of the wetlands at the Banyan Tree (Photo by Banyan Tree)

Banyan Tree staff together with school students (Photo by PCA)

Even landscape staff at the Ephelia resort learned more about plants (Photo by PCA)

Children enjoying the interactive exhibits with a PCA member at Ephelia (Photo by PCA)

Wildlife club members discuss plant uses at Le Meridien (Photo by Le Meridien Barbarons)

Things we use every day that originate or are linked with plants (Photo by PCA)

Contributed by PCA, Banyan Tree Resort, Ephelia Resort and Le Meridien Barbarons

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