Committee rebirth to lift ecotourism strategy |02 October 2004

Committee chairperson Frauke Dogley, speaking to Nation this week following the committee’s re-launch on Monday, said the new committee would try to bring a “more transparent and coordinated” effort towards ecotourism.

The first ecotourism committee, formed in 2002, was originally created to develop an ecotourism strategy for the country leading up to 2010. That strategy was launched in September last year.

But with assorted parties around the country carrying out different projects on their own in the past 12 months, Ms Dogley said the committee would bring some direction toward implementing the overall strategy.

“We want to build awareness on the possibilities of ecotourism,” she said, but added that the government can only be a facilitator, and a large part of the strategy’s success will depend on the willingness of the private sector to join in the ecotourism movement.

The new ecotourism committee comprises mostly personnel from government ministries for tourism, environment, land use and culture, but also includes a representative from the private sector in Seychelles Hotel and Tourism Association chief Louis d’Offay and the chairmen of two environment NGOs, Nirmal Jivan Shah of Nature Seychelles and Island Conservation’s Society’s Adrian Skerrett.

The Seychelles Tourism Marketing Authority and the Seychelles Island Foundation are also represented on the committee. The committee’s vice chairman is Denis Matatiken of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

Ms Dogley said the committee, which is to meet monthly, was kept fairly small for the sake of consistency, but that it would be open to a number of parties on invitation.
“We wanted to have core people, but when something specific comes up, those directly involved can be invited and come on board when a specific issue needs to be tackled,” she said.

Monday’s meeting gave members a chance to draft a new terms of reference for the new committee, which outlines a review mechanism for the body every two years up until the strategy’s mandate expires in 2010.

The committee’s next meeting will focus on ecotourism developments at Anse Royale, which is a pilot site for a number of tourism projects related to environment and culture.

Ms Dogley said the committee would help guide the district on new possibilities, and assist with technical aspects such as marketing.

The committee is also awaiting research carried out through the University of Zurich in Switzerland on several ecotourism issues, which will be used to help mark out a path forward, she added.

The research looked at the possibility of having qualifications toward “eco-certification” for tourism products, tourism satellite accounts to aid planning and an in-depth look at sustainable tourism development on La Digue. Research from that study has already been passed on to the development board for La Digue, Ms Dogley said.