Seychelles’ transformational debt-for-adaptation swap |17 February 2014

Partners meet to plan use of Seychelles’ EEZ

Stakeholders from various sectors of the economy met recently to elaborate a strategy to design a marine multi-use plan for the whole exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Seychelles.  

The February 4-5 meeting brought together representatives from key government agencies, the private sector and non-government organisations representing the economic, fisheries, petroleum, tourism, environment and maritime transport sectors.

The marine and terrestrial space of a country must be able to meet a wide range of uses which are defined by the needs of that nation.

In the case of small islands like Seychelles these different needs can be in direct competition for the same space and sometimes by their difference in nature create conflicts. For nations to address these and optimise the use of the land and seascape they make use of land use plans for their terrestrial spaces and marine spatial plans for their maritime areas.

Addressing the opening session of the meeting, Environment and Energy Minister Rolph Payet reminded delegates that while the resources the ocean offers us may be vast, they are also finite and they will have to be used wisely if we are to achieve our blue economy goals.

He pointed out that over 99% of our territory is made up of marine environment, a vast asset which underscores the importance of the blue economy to our nation and the world.  

He further made reference to the Blue Economy summit recently held in Abu Dhabi and the growing awareness of the importance of the oceans and marine environment by the global community and highlighted the need for the application of marine spatial planning to optimise use of and strengthen management of our EEZ. This will result in the production of the first marine multi-use plan for Seychelles.

This multi-sectoral approach has been used by countries like Australia and the United Kingdom to better plan the use of their EEZ and thereby optimise the sustainable development of their country.

 With Seychelles now promoting strongly a Blue Economy approach, such a plan will be vital towards this goal.  During the two-day workshop the delegates debated on what they would like to see happen in the future within the EEZ in respect to their respective sectors and drafted various objectives that the plan will have to meet.

The marine multi-use plan will contribute to the third component of the debt-for-adaptation swap that Seychelles is currently working on with The Nature Conservancy, an international non-governmental organisation.  The Nature Conservancy, with the leadership support of Oceans 5, is working with the Seychelles government on a massive opportunity in the form of a debt-for-adaptation swap. If successful, this project will result in part of our EEZ being put aside as replenishment zones, and it will serve as a model for island and coastal nations worldwide to recast development goals and marine area management plans for a sustainable future.

The initiative will contribute towards restoring coral reefs and mangroves, which will buffer sea level rise and the force of increasing, severe storms.  It will also contribute towards developing and reforming coastal zone management, fisheries, and marine policy and regulatory protection to cope with climate change.

From the socio-economic aspect it will help lessen declines in fisheries, which harm fishing and tourism-dependent livelihoods; lessen the vulnerability of coastal communities to increased erosion, flooding and sea level rise; and provide livelihood opportunities in coastal management. Most importantly it will help mobilise funds for economic diversification and for the management of the critically important seascape.