Seypec staff plant more than 300 trees on Praslin |14 January 2015

A group of Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec) staff have planted more than 300 trees on Praslin.

The tree planting activity, held last Saturday, was done in collaboration with non-governmental organisation Terrestrial Restoration and Action Society of Seychelles (Trass).

The initiative came following a request by Trass through one of its volunteer members, Marcus Pierre, who is also the senior supervisor at the Seypec depot on Praslin, enlisting the company’s support to assist with the planting of trees on various identified locations on Praslin affected by fire and erosion.

Seypec, as an environmentally conscious organisation which plans to increase the involvement of the company and staff in community based projects this year, responded positively to the call.

In total  324 ‘Bwadnat’trees were planted at ‘La Hauteur’, overlooking the Cap Samy farming community in the Baie St Anne district and bordering with the Praslin National Park. The plot has suffered several fires in the last 30 to 40 years.

The scientific name of ‘Bwadnat’ is Mimusopssechallarum and it is from the Sapotacae or the Milk-wood tree family.

‘Bwadnat’, which is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN as ‘near threatened’ status, can reach up to 30m high and is endemic to Seychelles.

Given the small population of Seypec staff at the Praslin depot and to ensure the opportunity to support Trass in its restoration project is maximised, a team of staff from the Mahé Seypec office were mobilised to join together on Praslin totalling up to 40 staff.

According to Dr Elvina Henriette, the Trass project programme manager, they are extremely satisfied with the turnout and support from the Seypec team.

“The fact that through one single event the team managed to plant a considerable number of trees is amazing and indeed a great contribution by Seypec towards the continuous conservation of Praslin,” said Dr Henriette.

Trass activities under the restoration project are supported by GEF-Small Grant Programme, UNDP and Comesa. However, the NGO is making a special appeal to local companies, groups or individuals who are interested in lending their support to contact the organisation and help restore and protect our islands.

Seypec staff doing their part in protecting and conserving our beautiful islands - Seychelles