Environment Review - Ban on plastic bags, black fungus gnat invasion and COP23 dominate year |29 December 2017

Environment activities during 2017 were mainly marked by the ban on plastic bags, styrofoam boxes and plastic utensils which was announced by government in 2016  but came into force on January 1, 2017. But the total restriction on the importation, manufacturing and distribution of plastic bags within the Seychelles became effective as of July last year.

The year was also marked by the invasion of black fungus gnats where the government had to call for outside assistance from the African Union (AU), in collaboration with the National Bio-security Agency (NBA).

The organisation sent three experts to assist Seychelles in controlling the invasion, where they focused on the short-term and urgent solution which was the setting up of control methods of stopping the population of the fungus while a more scientific research was being undertaken for long-term solution.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy was still on the Seychelles agenda this year and was again mentioned during the presentation of next year’s budget address.

“The energy sector is crucial for a modern society and economy. In fact, renewable energy is an unstoppable revolution right now. Seychelles must make sure as a nation we take advantage of the technological advances being made. The government is committed to promoting renewable energy in the context of our endeavour to create greater awareness of the impact of climate change,” said the Minister for Finance, Trade and Economic Planning Dr Peter Larose.

COP 23 climate change conference in Bonn

The year ended with a high level delegation from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change led by Minister Didier Dogley, and other partners in environment attending the COP23 conference in Bonn, Germany, where climate change and its effect on the global environment was again placed at the centre of global diplomacy for over two weeks as diplomats and ministers gathered there for the latest annual round of United Nations climate talks.

As Fiji was the first small island state to host the climate talks, hopes were high that it would give added impetus to the negotiations. But that was not the case.

COP23, the second ‘conference of the parties’ since the Paris Agreement was struck in 2015, promised to be a somewhat technical affair as countries continued to negotiate the finer details of how the agreement will work from 2020 onwards.

Commenting on the meeting upon his return, Minister Dogley said Seychelles has gained various benefits through bilateral meetings held with executive directors and organisations relating to various environment issues like climate change and renewable energy. But was disappointed with the amount and rate of financial assistance being given to small island states and developing countries of Africa to face those climate related problems we are experiencing like cyclone, coral bleaching, flooding, coastal erosion and also in providing us with the necessary technology to mitigate carbon emission. He added the total sum of US $93.2 million has been agreed upon to be shared between all countries with Germany donating US $50 million, which the minister said, is not enough as 100 billion per year were promised during the Paris Agreement.

“It cannot be that us small countries who have done nothing to affect the climate, should be digging in our pockets to fund such issues,” he said in a press conference on his return.

Ban on plastic bags

Plastic in every possible forms or shapes has made its way into every aspects of daily life. Be it clothing, footwear, cutleries, furniture, office wares, gadgets, we certainly are surrounded by plastic. One of the main issues arising from the use of products made up of plastic is the use of plastic carrier bags.

The latter can be seen almost everywhere and are readily available for mostly all purposes, so much so that it doesn’t hold much value and ends up on the landfill. A study carried out last year concluded that the volume of plastic ending up on the landfill in Seychelles is alarming and continues to increase. Since it is easily attainable as single use carrier bags, are given for free or at some retail outlets purchased at a small fee, it is easily discarded and are thrown anywhere even in the sea. Plastic is posing a massive threat to our environment as most of these plastic bags do not degrade and those that do degrade leave behind toxic residues. Hence the ban.

The Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change ran a series of media campaigns to bring more awareness in the community where the public especially business owners were informed of the restriction on the importation of these items and were given a grace period of six months (until June 30) to rid themselves of their existing stock. Therefore by July 1 last year, business owners had to completely stop using the plastic forks, spoons, bags, etc.

“We know our habits and we all kept some plastic bags in a big bag at our home. It will take some time to get rid of all the individual bags but commercially we should not see any. We are urging people to bring along their bags when they go shopping and make the effort to get rid of our habit. We cannot police individuals but business owners will get a fine, if found not abiding by the law,” said Nanette Laure, director general in the Waste, Enforcement and Permit section last year on the ban. But there was also a list of plastic bags that were exempt from the ban.

Black fungus gnats

As for the black fungus gnats, the experts said there was a lack of evidence of the origin of the pests and they compared them to samples found in neighbouring islands, but with no exact match.

“My ministry together with NBA have been following the outbreak of the black fungus gnats, its behaviour. We know those black flies are rather a nuisance to the community and visitors. We have got assistance from experts and foreign laboratories since we started the monitoring. They are helping us in identifying this species and if it is really the species that has been with us for years or a new type which has recently been introduced,” said Michael Benstrong, the then Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

The experts considered the black fungus gnats a big problem for the economy more than a health one because it affected the tourists in the country. It is to be noted that no real solution was found for the pests which at a certain extent just disappeared.

Compiled by M. Julie