Legislation on state land and rivers reviewed-● “Land is our gold,” says Land Use PS |24 February 2012

The ministry’s principal secretary, Christian Lionnet, told the gathering at the Seychelles Fishing Authority’s conference room earlier this week that with half of our land mass under conservation, narrow buildable coastal plains and an aggressive topography, land remains one of the most valuable resources for our people.

He said state land must therefore be sustainably maintained and managed to guarantee our socio-economic development.

Mr Lionnet noted that currently the State Land and River reserves is governed by legislation enacted in 1903 and last revised in 1991, prior to the coming into force of the 1993 constitution.
 
The Act, he said, addressed specific needs of the time, most of which have ceased to be applicable or have become less relevant today.

“Faced with scarcity of buildable land and yet a huge demand for land for various, and at times conflicting, uses and the reality of climate change, sustainable land management is of paramount importance to sustainable growth,” he said.

Mr Lionnet said taking into account the constraints of state land, this legislative review is primarily aimed at enhancing the adoption of sustainable land management practices on state land; ensuring  greater transparency and accountability in the way decisions are taken in respect of management and use of state land; modernising and reviewing technologies , approaches, institutional policy, governance, economy and capacity building.

Mr Lionnet said in particular, it will be crucial to combine new attention to the impacts of climate change with sustainable development.

He added that  sustainable land management must be centred on the principles  of integrated land and water resource management and sustainable land use.

Discussions at the half-day workshop were held under the guidance of the MLUH legal consultant Farzanha Jumaye.
The deliberations also received the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), represented locally by Veronique Herminie and Helena Francourt.