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.
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| Beach profiling Anse Bazarca |
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| 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!
