Currently I am half way through my second week working with MCSS. I heard about the project in UK throughs the Seychelles Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy. I am a student at the University of East Anglia studying International Development with a focus on natural resources. I understand that most people who take internships here at MCSS come from a biological background, however I am interested more broadly in the cross over between development and conservation. Through participating in conservation, I can better understand conservation management and the interface between conservation and community development.

Therefore, I chose to take an internship with the Temporal Protected Areas (TPA) project. The TPA project is trying to develop areas that can be enforced as a protected area during the turtle nesting season. This is providing the opportunity to see how real ‘cutting-edge’ conservation is being conducted in one of Earths most precious biodiversity ‘hotspots’ with its unique rates of endemism. This includes being one of the top 5 places in the world for the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle to nest. Poaching and coastal development is a big problem here, threatening the turtle populations,so protected areas hopes to allow them the space to reproduce safely. However, creating TPAs and managing them is also a complicated issue, of which has interesting solutions.

So far things have been going very smoothly, everyone here is super kind helping me stay busy and integrate me into the project. With the TPA project I spend most my time beach profiling and beach monitoring/patrolling. Although TPAs are not officially established on a legal basis, MCSS is operating as if many of the beaches here are TPAs already to help turtles and illustrate the benefits of protected areas. Such work includes collecting data to measure the rates of erosion on the beaches and monitoring beaches for anthropogenic obstacles that would obstruct the turtles nesting. At the moment, it is not turtle nesting season, yet it is important to still check for nests and how able they will be able to nest when they do arrive.Everyday I’m in the field on some of the most beautiful and wild beaches I’ve ever seen.

Beach profiling Anse Bazarca

Beach profiling Anse

In addition, I have begun working with the AnseForbans wetland restoration project. This has been really exciting as there’s loads to be done! This is the great thing about MCSS, when there is help needed, they allow you to integrate into other projects too. My main job with this is to start mapping out the whole wetland area including the rivers that feed and stem from the wetlands. This means I am having to battle with GIS software, but useful knowledge to have. We have just begun terrapin trapping also, something I have assisted with at Banyan tree, and also water sampling for pollutants. All of this is helping me see what needs to be collected in order to develop plans for restoration projects and to learn more intimately how ecosystems are all interconnected.

Hopefullythere is a chance to communicate more with local farmers/residents at AnseFrobans about the importance of wetlands, and how they will benefit from wetland restoration and how they can be part in the decision making over the restoration plans. But for now work is sweet and pleased to have several more weeks here on Mahe!