Managers of marine protected areas strengthen skills and boost capacity |29 September 2016

Over 30 people including a dozen local officials and managers of marine protected areas (MPAs) together with their counterparts from Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius are following a week-long training in the laws that govern such areas in the Western Indian Ocean.

The training, which is taking place at the University of Seychelles at Anse Royale, aims to boost the understanding of nationals from these countries managing their MPAs on the importance of MPAs related laws and their implementation, including enforcement and governance arrangements .

It is expected that at the end of the training the group will be well equipped to train a wider range of stakeholders in their respective countries.

The training is being funded by the European Union under its Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) five-year biodiversity project and it is being carried out by the Indian Ocean Commission.

The organisation of the training in Seychelles has been made in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change and the Blue Economy Research Institute (BERI)of the University of Seychelles.

The chief executive of the Seychelles National Parks Authority, Flavien Joubert, officially launched the training on Monday in the presence of the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley, the vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles Professor Dennis Hardy, the principal secretary of the Blue Economy Department Rebecca Loustau-Lalanne, among other guests.

In remarks to launch the training Mr Joubert said it has come at an opportune time and is highly relevant for all who is tasked with protecting different species and managing  protected areas.

“We all know that a lot is being done but a lot more needs to be done to protect and to manage marine protected areas and the different species,” Mr Joubert said.

Noting that Seychelles has made a lot of commitment at national, regional and global level in relation to environment protection, he said the training will strengthen our capacity in environment protection and will be a big boost in helping us honour all our commitments.

He called on all those taking part to make the most of the opportunity to learn from each other, to exchange views, ideas and best practices to reinforce their knowledge and boost the quality of their work, a view which Minister Dogley reemphasised.

He reminded everyone present that our environment attracts a lot of visitors to our shores and in spite of all effort to protect it a lot more needs to be done to reinforce protection measures.

He stressed on the need to work in partnerships, to make the most of opportunities like the training, to share experiences as well as challenges which  are no doubt similar in many aspects in the different countries and build on knowledge so as to better reinforce protection work.

For Prof. Hardy being able to manage protected areas is a mighty challenge but training and building capacity of those tasked to do it is one of the key tools to succeed because, he said, we need to continue to think creatively about ways to protect the world’s important resources for the future.

Another representative of the UniSey noted that the institution, though young, attaches great importance and gives full support to such training because it gives great importance to the environment and is well aware that the richness of our endemic species have degraded over the years. 

“The UniSey is therefore thankful to the EU and the IOC for funding this project and bringing all the different regional countries which share the same goal and practices in protecting and preserving the MPAs of the region,” he said.