International Day of Biodiversity |22 May 2015

‘Let us appreciate the value of biodiversity,’ says Minister Dogley

The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Energy Didier Dogley has urged everyone to reflect on the importance of and the contribution that biodiversity makes to the quality of life every day.  

“It is the cornerstone of sustainable development and economic growth.  Planet Earth and its ecosystems are our home.  Let us today and always appreciate the value of biodiversity,” the minister says in his message on the occasion of the International Day of Biodiversity being celebrated today.
The full text of Minister Dogley’s message reads:  

“May 22 is commemorated globally as the International Day of Biodiversity.  The United Nations recognise this day as the international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues.  This year’s International theme is ‘Biodiversity for Sustainable Development’.

“Biodiversity is a term used to define the diversity of life on earth.  These include all living species found in the marine and terrestrial environment.  Many of them are important to us because we depend on them for our existence.  They provide us with essential goods and services such as food, medicine, clean air and pure water, which are important for maintaining our health.  They also help to protect us from the fate of natural disasters and help to drive global and local economies.  Biodiversity is therefore critical for reducing poverty, creating sustainable livelihoods and helping communities adapt to climate change.  “However, they are being depleted at an unprecedented rate as human populations and their level of consumption increase with development occurring unsustainably.  This has pushed many natural scientists to forecast that the earth is on the brink of another great mass extinction, which will be the 6th.  The only difference this time is that it would be caused not by natural causes but by the impact of the activities of one species, man.

“We need to sustain and conserve these resources as we develop economically, without undermining the ‘integrity, stability and beauty’ of natural biotic systems.  We need to meet human development goals, while sustaining the ability of natural systems to continue to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which our economy and society depend.  Should we fail to do this our country may not be economically viable in the future.  In other words, we islanders, we do not have a choice in selecting our development pathway.

“The Seychelles government recognises and emphasises the importance of the concept of sustainable development.  It has put in place a nine-year comprehensive and overarching strategy that integrates biodiversity in sustainable development.  The Seychelles Sustainable Development Strategy for 2012-2020 provides a clear roadmap towards a Seychelles where environmental integrity, social equity and economic growth are in tune with each other to achieve sustainable growth.  Seychelles has also produced its second National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which will be launched soon.  

“The economy cannot grow without the need to protect the various habitats, which are homes to the unique biodiversity found only in the Seychelles.  The government has already declared more than 50% of our land territory as protected area and it has plans to also increase the marine area under legal protection.  The Marine Spatial Plan, which is now being finalised will greatly improve the ability of government and other stakeholders to make proper use of our marine territorial space.  It aims to strike a balance between the furtherance of the Blue economy concept launched by President James Michel three years ago with marine biodiversity conservation and protection.  It will help us in minimising conflicts between the various sectors competing for the resources found in the sea and ocean, while preparing to adapt to climate change.

“The local actors in the tourism and fisheries sectors understand the importance of biodiversity and as a result have embraced best practices in their respective sectors. In both sectors major investments have been made particularly by the private sector to decouple environment destruction from economic development.  A lesson that many developed countries has learned the hard way because once the natural resources have been depleted the scope of economic growth becomes very limited.  

In Seychelles we can be proud of the progress we have made. Much progress has been made within the tourism sector, where many developments have integrated the existing ecosystems such as wetland in their designs while others have adopted measures to enhance, improve or restore degraded areas.  We have many good examples where hotels have made positive impacts on the environment and these cannot go unnoticed.  Government is encouraging hotels to adopt the Seychelles Sustainability Tourism Label, a joint initiative by the ministries responsible for tourism and environment to mainstream sustainability practices into their operation with the aim of safeguarding the biodiversity and culture of the country.  It is amazing how much progress the hotels that have adopted the local and international labels have made in saving energy, water and managing their waste.

“Similarly, the fisheries sector is now adopting management plans and sustainable labels for this very important economic sector.

“The non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations are also playing a critical part in the conservation as well as in educating the members of our communities in the protection of our biodiversity.  However, sadly some people are still trying to go round the system in an effort to commit environmental offences for some quick personal gains. The ministry responsible for environment together with the judiciary have now put in place an Environment and Traffic Tribunal which will specifically target and deal with offenders committing environment crimes in the shortest possible delay.  This is a giant leap for the Seychelles as we continue to champion the cause of protecting the environment.  

“Let us take this day to reflect on the importance of and the contribution that biodiversity makes to the quality of life every day.  It is the cornerstone of sustainable development and economic growth.  Planet Earth and its ecosystems are our home.  Let us today and always appreciate the value of biodiversity.”