People invited to apply for funds for sustainable fisheries projects |21 October 2017

The first Blue Grants Fund (BGF) window is now open and is seeking applicants and partnerships to apply for funds to encourage and promote sustainable fisheries projects.

An initiative of the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT), the BGF was launched on Thursday evening by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley in the presence of Vice-President Vincent Meriton, Minister for Health Jean-Paul Adam among other key officials and dignitaries at the H-Resort (Trader’s Vics), Beau Vallon.

During the ceremony the chief executive (CEO) of SeyCCAT Martin Callow held a presentation on SeyCCAT, history of debt restructure,  SeyCCAT logo, website, funding model, Blue Bond partnerships and the vision for the future while the SeyCCAT secretary Nirmal Shah spoke about the value of SeyCCAT to conservation and civil society in Seychelles.

SeyCCAT is a conservation and climate adaptation trust fund with a mandate to provide a sustainable flow of funds to support the long-term management and expansion of the Seychelles system of marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, and other activities that contribute substantially to the conservation, protection and maintenance of biodiversity and the adaptation to climate change. SeyCCAT is currently capitalised with proceeds from the government of Seychelles US $21.6M debt conversion that was completed in 2016 with the support of The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The BGF is being done through a competitive request for proposals process where they intend to support projects that relate to the artisanal, semi-industrial, aqua cultural or sports and recreational fisheries sub-sectors, including their relationship to the national marine spatial planning process and marine protected areas.  

Projects can be submitted that require either small-medium one-year grants up to R100,000, or large two-year grants between R100,000 and R1,000,000.

SeyCCAT anticipates dispersing approximately R3.6 million through this first Blue Grants Fund.  Any locally registered NGO or CSO, parastatal organisation, government agency or citizen of Seychelles may submit a proposal to SeyCCAT, as long as they have legally existed and operated in Seychelles for a minimum of one year. The deadline for concept notes for this first call for proposals is November 17, 2017.

The chair of the SeyCCAT board, Minister Dogley, said by December all the reviews would have been done so that by January next year all the projects that have been accepted for the grants will move on to the second stage.

“They will be informed for them to work on the full project proposal and that has to be submitted by February. This will be followed by an assessment process towards the end of March, early April those who have been successful will be announced,” he said.

“It is an opportune time for SeyCCAT to come to life, over the past three years we have been working with stakeholders to learn of their interests as they relate to marine spatial planning and we are now at a point where SeyCCAT’s assets can start to support that planning process.  We see SeyCCAT’s first call for proposals and its alignment with the fisheries sector as a key element for the future sustainability of Seychelles’ unique and fragile ocean,” Minister Dogley said.

According to Mr Callow, this is a significant milestone for SeyCCAT. “Over the past six months we have been putting in place the operational systems to ensure we are ready to disperse funds from the world’s first marine debt for nature swap.  We are excited to be able to implement this innovative financial mechanism to support improved marine resource management. A key part of our work going forward will be to ensure that SeyCCAT’s funds and partners are measurably delivering real outcomes and impact.  We are also working to grow our asset base so that SeyCCAT can expand its support for projects that align with our five strategic objectives.”