Developing a marine spatial plan for a 30% conservation goal in Seychelles

The Seychelles is an archipelagic nation in the rich, tropical marine waters of the Western Indian Ocean. Encompassing 1.37 million square kilometres and 115 islands, biodiversity is Seychelles’ most important natural asset... [ view full abstract ]

The Seychelles is an archipelagic nation in the rich, tropical marine waters of the Western Indian Ocean. Encompassing 1.37 million square kilometres and 115 islands, biodiversity is Seychelles’ most important natural asset supporting a luxury tourism industry and over 10 different fisheries. In recent years, public concerns about fisheries sustainability, tourism development and climate change impacts have increased. Conservation and sustainable use of marine resources are very important to Seychelles’ way of life and in 2010 the government made a bold commitment to increase marine protections from 0.03% to 30% using a debt-for-conservation deal. The Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan (SMSP) process began in 2014 and is a public and transparent process to achieve the 30% marine conservation goal and meet other conditions of the debt swap. The SMSP is government-led process, facilitated by The Nature Conservancy, and includes input from at least 11 marine sectors including fishing, tourism, conservation, oil & gas, recreation, maritime safety, ports, and renewable energy. By developing robust stakeholder engagement processes, a simple zoning framework to match planning goals, building an adaptive spatial database at multiple scales, and using a planning unit approach with decision-support tools like Marxan with Zones, the first SMSP milestone was achieved in 2018 after more than 100 consultations. This approach resulted in over 210,000 square kilometres or 16% of Seychelles’ waters in marine protection and sustainable use areas. This presentation will show how marine conservation goals and resilient ocean economies can be achieved using a transparent marine spatial planning process.