New demarcation and mooring buoys around Aride Island |18 July 2011

These buoys are found around the island’s marine reserve and this has been made possible under the regional programme for the sustainable management of the coastal zones of the countries of the Indian Ocean (Recomap).

The project entitled: “Improved Management of Aride Island Nature Reserve, Seychelles” is a long awaited feat.

The Aride Island conservation management team is now relieved and proud of this major achievement.

These demarcation buoys mark the boundary of the island’s protected area which is strictly a “no-take zone” where no intentional disturbance or damage is permitted.

The Aride staff are now in a much better position to judge whether boats are inside or outside the marine reserve.
The mooring buoys will allow more boats to safely moor around Aride and also help reduce the impact of anchor damage on the benthic communities.

The Island Conservation Society (ICS) needed to overcome a number of challenges in order to successfully complete this project. These included internal staff turnovers, major delays to import equipment, and rough sea conditions during the south-east monsoon making it very risky to carry out any drilling activities underwater at such shallow depths and also making it difficult to meet the extended project deadline.

Since, the Recomap project has now come to a gratifying end, the ICS wishes to thank all its partners who have helped in one way or another to carry out the project.

Thanks go to Georges Michel and the ‘Tulip One’ vessel crew, Rodney Quatre (manager of the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology), Alex Underwood (Aride Island Manager) who have been particularly instrumental in the success of this endeavour. Without their expertise and professionalism this project would not have been completed on time successfully.

The ICS extends its immense gratitude to the Recomap team for funding and for their unwavering support throughout.
The organisation hopes that the outcome and experiences of this project can be transferred and prove useful to other project designers and implementers alike.

Finally it also looks forward in working in collaboration with Recomap on various other projects in the near future.

Contributed by the Island Conservation Society