The Seychelles archipelago has established 210,000sq km of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as part of a pioneering conservation-finance deal devised by The Nature Conservancy in 2016. In nearly one-third of that area, only very limited activities — including research and regulated tourism — are allowed. Didier Dogley, Seychelles’ Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, announced two new MPAs in the Indian Ocean earlier this year — the first milestones in a process that will end in 2020 with 30 per cent of the Seychelles’ deep-sea ecosystems protected. Oceanic nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change because they are often almost entirely reliant on marine resources. But measures such as these shield them from unsustainable development while safeguarding their economies.
By Eleanor Bonsor