VICTORIA, July 18, 2019―It is an ordinary Monday morning at Beau Vallon beach, Seychelles. A group of men and women prepare the beach for the soon-to-arrive tourists, cleaning up the plastics and algae washed ashore by the Indian Ocean that do not fit the image of the tropical paradise that the Seychelles projects to the world. Fishermen walk out of the water carrying a fish trap above their heads, delivering the daily catch of reef fish. On that same reef, researchers and graduate students working for a local NGO have established a coral nursery in collaboration with one of the hotels to restore the degraded ecosystem. Several tourism establishments along the beach have attempted to build their own coastal defenses to halt erosion and flooding without affecting the scenic quality of the beach. Clearly, the Seychelles’ coastal natural resources are essential for resilience, economic development, and the livelihoods of coastal communities, but they are under threat.
A major share of infrastructure, population and economic activities in Seychelles are located in the coastal zone. Seychelles’ coastline has been affected by the 2004 tsunami, several tropical storms, and an ongoing process of erosion. Repeated coral bleaching events have caused a loss of about 90% of the coral cover on Seychelles’ reefs since the 1990s. Coral mortality has changed the shape of reefs, leading to more waves reaching the shore and increased erosion of beaches, processes that are enhanced by sea-level rise. In the absence of a coastal planning framework, ad hoc solutions were applied to manage these risks. In several places across the archipelago, rock armoring was placed on the beaches to prevent erosion, leading to a drop in scenic beach quality and a loss of tourism revenue. Without careful planning, rock armoring and groynes can also move the erosion problem to other areas.
Over the past year, a World Bank technical team has supported the Seychelles Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate in the development of a Coastal Management Plan (CMP), which was officially endorsed by the Cabinet on May 30, 2019. The plan sets out a holistic set of priorities for coastal management including monitoring and research, coastal protection infrastructure, risk-based spatial planning, and capacity needs. The CMP has identified a portfolio of investments in coastal protection infrastructure, nature-based solutions, such as coral reef and dune restoration, and accompanying monitoring and capacity building needs for implementation from 2019 to 2024.
The implementation of the Coastal Management Plan will reduce flood and erosion risk to coastal communities and infrastructure and will help sustain economic activity in the coastal zone. It is estimated that 4,000 buildings and 117 kilometers of infrastructure are currently in flood zones, a share of which would be better protected once the proposed interventions are successfully implemented. The suggested strengthening of monitoring and assessment capacities will allow the Government to better track erosion processes affecting lives and livelihoods in the coastal zone, and take action where needed.
The CMP is a tool to integrate nature-based solutions in strategic coastal planning and policy and presents an approach that is replicable in other coastal and island states. Information from existing studies on coastal processes in Seychelles was supplemented with cost-effective and innovative ways to collect coastal risk data through drone imagery and community mapping of schools and tourism establishments.
As Seychelles’ natural capital has strong economic significance, nature-based or hybrid solutions have great potential for maximizing financing for development. Natural systems such as mangroves, coral reefs, and beaches benefit tourists and fishers, and provide an incentive for co-financing of such solutions. The government, with support from the Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), is currently identifying potential ways to strengthen private sector financing of coastal protection through large-scale coral restoration.
Recognizing the country’s climate vulnerability as a small island state, the government of Seychelles has been at the forefront of advocating for climate action and embracing the blue economy as a concept to boost sustainable development. This is illustrated by initiatives such as the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan, which was partly funded through the debt-for-nature-swap, and the world’s first sovereign Blue Bond. Seychelles also signed the first loan with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option in Africa (Cat DDO), an instrument that provides much-needed financial relief in case of a disaster. The recently endorsed CMP complements these initiatives and aligns with the strategic goals of resilience and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas.
The development of the Seychelles Coastal Management Plan was supported by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) through the Nature-Based Solutions Program and the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Initiative.
