MCB funds coral restoration project |26 May 2017

The corals that have gradually deteriorated along the south coast of Mahé due to bleaching will be rehabilitated and restored.

This follows the handover of a cheque worth R200,000 from the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) to the Anse Forbans Community Conservation Programme.

It was the MCB managing director (MD) Bernard Jackson who presented the cheque to the chairperson of the programme Lisa Laporte-Booyse, in the presence of MCB staff members and members of the programme, in a short ceremony held yesterday at the MCB Victoria Branch at Caravelle House.

This coral stewardship project is part of MCB’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the first on land coral nursery will be located on the premises of the DoubleTree by Hilton Seychelles Allamanda Resort & Spa, Anse Forbans, Takamaka.

Mr Jackson said they want to promote the idea that we need to be close to nature and we need to be sponsoring initiatives which are meant to create a more preserved environment.

“We were happy to be able to be part of it as we are aiming to restore the natural state of the coral reef and ensure we also get to rebuild the marine life,” he said.

He said they are supporting this project because of food security as our people feed on the fish which lives in those corals and also for biodiversity.

“We know that more biodiversity has a general impact both from the natural and economic perspective as Seychelles is a tourism oriented country and tourists want to see how the biodiversity of Seychelles is and it will continue to attracting people to the island,” he said.

Mrs Laporte-Booyse said the Anse Forbans Community Conservation Programme, which is a fully certified non-governmental organisation (NGO), met the community in July last year to discuss what pertinent issues they would like to address and then this project was submitted to MCB in March.

“What we want to show everybody is that if we can do this as a community in Anse Forbans what stops other communities from getting people together and looking after the environment,” she asked.

She thanked the support being given by MCB and Hilton resorts to this cause.

The nursery is expected be to set up within the next two months.

Posters of the Anse Forbans community coral stewardship project will be circulated for people to know what is being done.