Fond Ferdinand targets national park status |02 September 2004

Overall management of the 133-hectare area, as well as issues like land ownership, conservation and marketing will be vital to its success, said private consultant John Nevill, who was approached by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to draft a preliminary management plan for Fond Ferdinand.

Outlining a framework for the plan on Friday August 27 at Casino des Iles at Côte d’Or, Praslin, Mr Nevill told an audience of public and private tourism reps, environment officials, landowners and other stakeholders that Fond Ferdinand could be seen as a national model for a de-centralised and self-sufficient protected area.

But for Fond Ferdinand to be viable as a national park or special reserve, it may have to position itself differently from what some might see as a competing destination to the Vallee de Mai.

Though Mr Nevill said Fond Ferdinand is a globally significant area as the largest remaining coco de mer forest in the world and a hotspot for biodiversity with a number of critically endangered and threatened species, the park would have to play a more complementary and perhaps even secondary role to the famed world heritage site.

The park’s potential will instead have to rely on added attractions not necessarily part of the Vallee de Mai experience, such as the area’s scenic views and diverse habitat types, Mr Nevill said.

Other added attractions, such as a nursery for endemic species found in the area, an in-depth information centre and a restaurant could also be looked at, he said.

During the presentation, Mr Nevill took the audience through the different management issues that will have to be tackled – among them strategically placed trails, anti-poaching strategies and training needs.

Land ownership is another issue “that will have to be addressed,” Mr Nevill said, noting that some landowners have not even been identified yet due to dated records.

Consultations with individuals – once found – who own land on or adjacent to the park area will have to be carried out, after which land purchase agreements or development restrictions could be negotiated.

Though Fond Ferdinand is not yet protected legally as a national park, the management of the area was transferred to the Praslin Development Fund (PDF) in 2000.

Mr Nevill said that though the PDF has had a great impact on Fond Ferdinand’s productivity, “they need the legal status behind them.”

PDF chairman Michel Gardette said that since 2000 coco de mer poaching in Fond Ferdinand has been reduced dramatically.

“It was so bad at one point that people were cutting down the trees for the nuts,” he said.
The first six months under PDF management saw only nine nuts harvested, but harvest figures can now reach up to 1,500 per year, said Mr Gardette.

Coco de mer harvesting has become one of the PDF’s primary sources of revenue, netting some R500,000 in total.

The Fond Ferdinand project seems to be part of a continuing trend from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to divert some of its responsibilities to the private sector.

Environment principal secretary Rolph Payet said Fond Ferdinand would be the first test to see whether outside parties can manage some of the country's forests. “We think they can,” he said.