MENR receives royal invite

Seychelles Nation - 28.05.2005 (www.nation.sc ) 

Environment and Natural Resources Minister Ronny Jumeau and Environment Principal Secretary Rolph Payet leave Seychelles on Saturday to take part in a scientific meeting on global warning organised by the King of Sweden.

Both Minister Jumeau and Mr Payet received personal invitations from King Carl XVI Gustaf to deliver separate presentations to his Seventh Royal Colloquium in Sweden from May 30 to June 1, 2005.

The Royal Colloquia are a series of international environmental symposiums of a select – no more than 25 – number of political, scientific and academic personalities which are held regularly by the King. They deal with environmental issues of significance to the well being of ecosystems and the lives of the millions of people all over the world who depend on them.

This year’s Royal Colloquia will look at the melting of the polar ice by global warning under the theme: “Artic under Stress: A Thawing Tundra.”

Minister Jumeau’s presentation, entitled “Arctic Stress – Tropics in Distress,” will look at the effect the melting of the Arctic has on small island developing states. Mr Payet will address the colloquium on Biodiversity at the Frontline: Links between the Artic and tropical biodiversity.

“Mr Payet and I have been invited to drive home the message that the melting of the polar ice is of serious concern to not only the countries  and peoples of the Artic, but to all mankind as far as us here in Seychelles,” said Minister Jumeau.

“It will, for example, accelerate sea level rise and thus the flooding and submergence of even small islands in the tropics,” he said.

The minister described the invitations from the King of Sweden as “a rare honour” for Seychelles as it will be the only developing and small island state represented among the 20 participants.
The colloquia are usually held in the King’s palace, but will this year take place on board an icebreaker as it travels down the Gulf of Bothnia from Sweden’s northernmost port of Lulea to Stockholm.

Most of the other participants come from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, all of which form part of the Arctic region.

Participants come from science academies and scientific institutes and publications, universities, environmental foundations and governments.

Coral Reefs a Global Concern

Iran Daily May 12 2005

Marine biologists launched an appeal for more funds to monitor and protect the world’s imperiled coral reefs, warning that rampant damage to the undersea
ecosystems poses a global threat, AFP reported.
“The threat to coral reefs is therefore no longer just an island problem but a world concern,“ Seychelles Environment Minister Ronny Jumeau said.
With about 20 percent of the earth’s reefs damaged beyond repair, 24 percent under imminent threat and 26 percent facing long-term threats, Jumeau said the international community had to do more to ensure their protection.
“The developed world should commit more funds to coral reef monitoring programs and to the management of protected areas,“ he said.
“If we allow our coral to die especially in the face of sea level rise, thousands of islands across the globe will disappear, along with whole countries, innumerable communities, entire cultures,“ Jumeau said.
According to reports, reefs have been damaged in the waters of 93 nations.
In parts of the Indian Ocean, where the Seychelles Islands are located, researchers fear that reefs could disappear from vast swathes of sea beds in the next 20 years.
Although such damage has immediate effects on small islands, it can also endanger food security in larger nations.
“Many species of fish depend on coral reefs for their food or protection and the collapse of the reefs would lead to elevated costs of fish worldwide,“ said International Coral Reef Initiative chief Rolph Payet.
ICRI is a private sector-government partnership set up in 1995 to address coral reef conservation and management and to reduce the destruction of coral reefs as well as other related ecosystems.

10TH ANNIVERSARY ICRI MEETING HELD IN THE SEYCHELLES

From: Reefcheck, April 2005

The 10th anniversary meeting of the International Coral Reef Initiative was held from April 25–27, 2005 in Mahé, The Seychelles. The meeting was co-chaired by Rolph Payet of the Seychelles and John Roberts of the United Kingdom. Seventy-five participants, including three new members, attended the meeting. RC Executive Director, Gregor Hodgson, represented Reef Check. The meeting produced a number of decisions, including one to have GCRMN do a post-tsunami follow-up to their Status of Coral Reefs of the World report. A draft resolution on reef rehabilitation was also proposed (see below). To view a summary of the meeting, click here.

ICRI Meeting Proposes Resolution on Artificial Reef Restoration and Rehabilitation
One of the outcomes of the ICRI meeting was a draft resolution on reef restoration. Various commercial and non-commercial organizations have proposed a range of ‘engineering’ techniques as reef reconstruction or rehabilitation techniques, including:
- A mechanism using wire frames through which electricity is passed to accrete calcium carbonate and accelerate the growth of transplanted corals;
- Installation of artificial reefs, including concrete structures; and
- Mechanisms for re-cementing and re-gluing corals and other organisms to the substratum.

These techniques have recently been brought to the forefront due to reef damage from the 2004 tsunami. The following is an excerpt from the proposal, click here to read the full resolution that was adopted by ICRI this month:

"The proponents of this Resolution, the ICRI Operational Units, CORDIO, GCRMN, ICRAN and Reef Check, while acknowledging that some innovative and new approaches to coral reef conservation and management may have limited applications, are concerned that there have been insufficient peer-reviewed, long-term scientific studies of reef rehabilitation using these and other techniques and that there have been few cost-benefit analyses to assess effectiveness of the methods over natural recovery processes. The available evidence suggests that some of these techniques may be useful in specialized cases, but have limited or no application and value for large-scale coral reef rehabilitation. In addition to effectiveness considerations, construction of any engineered structure on a coral reef must be evaluated against any potential environmental damage caused during construction or later degradation."

Seychelles tenure ends on high but cautious note

Seychelles Nation - 30.04.2005

Seychelles came out shining when delegates attending the ICRI conference recently reviewed the country's recent achievements and its efforts to preserve the endangered coral reefs.

The Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Ronny Jumeau outlined some of the country’s successes as he opened the third International Coral Initiative (ICRI) at the Plantation Club and Resort on Monday April 25.

However, he only did so after stating the global threats that the demise of coral reefs poses to the world, and also named the challenges ahead and how Seychelles is planning to overcome them.

Key among the achievements were those realised during the last two years, when UK and Seychelles have been co-chairs of the world conservation body.

In words similar to those used by other delegates and guests, Minister Jumeau rightly said that drawing world attention to the situation of coral reefs during the Mauritius International Meeting of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) held in January this year was a landmark goal achieved.

"Those of you who could not be there to see how we managed to get United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to champion the cause of coral reefs in a small island setting missed a truly historic occasion for ICRI.

"You should have seen the faces of the hosts of other organisations and causes vying, unsuccessfully I might add, for Mr Annan's presence and a spot on his extremely heavy schedule," Mr Jumeau said.

He was referring to the side coral reef event that President James Michel of Seychelles hosted at the Mauritius SIDS meeting and gave its successful organisation as proof of how well the two co-chairs have worked together and complemented each other to realise the "huge success."

He hinted at some of the reasons why no country should sit on its laurels and referred to the status of coral reefs of the World Report for 2004, the foreword of which was co-written by President Michel and President Tommy Remengesau of Palau, the other SIDS which has taken over the co-chair of ICRI with Japan.

The minister said that according to the report, the prognosis for the coral reefs is very dire indeed, and gave the current world situation, with words that are still being echoed in news headlines around the world, which we published in the Tuesday edition of Seychelles Nation.

Minister Jumeau said Seychelles is not sitting back and waiting for its largesse.
"We have done a lot of work on coral reefs under the ICRI umbrella these past 10 years, and especially since the devastating 1998 El Nino.
"The December 2004 tsunami has only stiffened our resolve," he said, and gave the following developments:

. Seychelles is about to launch a national coral reef task force which will supercede the existing national coral reef monitoring network, and enable more proactive coordination of coral reef protection and rehabilitation on the various islands.

. The Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology and Marine Parks Authority (SCMRT-MPA) and a number of non-governmental organisations are increasingly active in coral reef work, and promoting public awareness.

. The country has numerous educational materials being used in schools, where environmental education of all types is part of the curricula.

. Seychelles has strengthened planning and development laws to reduce sedimentation and other impacts on coral reefs. The protection of coastal habitats has become even more of a priority in Seychelles town and country planning authority and a nationwide concern among the population following the devastating effect of the December 26 tsunami.

. Seychelles has launched an environmental enforcement network and training programme involving government, including the Seychelles People's Defence Forces, the private sector, non-governmental organisations.
It will soon be formalised through a memorandum of understanding between all partners, with the aim of ensuring that poaching and other damaging impacts on the country's reefs and marine reserves van be minimised.

Minister Jumeau said that as ICRI celebrates its 10th anniversary, this country hopes to achieve effective  management and sustainable use of coral reefs.

"We also hope to raise global and local awareness even more in this dire hour of the coral reefs and increase political and financial commitment to marine conservation and management in partnership with one another," he said.

He said this is the only way to ensure a sustainable future for all, especially those countries and communities that are heavily dependent on coral reefs and related coastal eco-systems for their survival.

On his own behalf, that of his ministry and the Government of Seychelles, thanked co-chairs Rolph Payet and John Robert for the commendable work they did during their tenure.

Delegates at the ceremony were treated to songs sung by school children which stressed on the dire need to conserve the remaining corals.

The children had participated in a song competition in the primary category of which the Independent School team of two, Analise Bonnelame and Amanda Michel, came first, as the Beau Vallon School team won the top prize in the secondary category.