GVI.2014.2
Achievement report May 2014
Report Title Monitoring the Coral Reefs of Denis and North Island Objective Assisting local project partners with coral reef assessment. Summary The GVI Seychelles Marine Expedition assisted local NGO the Green Islands Foundation with monitoring the coral reefs surrounding two of the Seychelles inner islands. Report In May GVI staff had the amazing opportunity to survey some of the other stunning islands within the Inner Islands of Seychelles. They conducted coral reef surveys similar to those undertaken with GVI as part of a project through Green Islands Foundation (GIF). The project is part of the UNDP-‐GEF project “strengthening Seychelles protected area sys-‐tem through NGO management modalities”, and aims to expand and strengthen manage-‐ment of protected areas in Seychelles, and to utilise the new Protected Areas Policy that provides opportunities for other stakeholders to engage in the management of protected areas. The project is in its final stage, and GVI staff assisted in mapping the biotic and abiotic components of the coastal waters around the private islands of Denis and North with the aim of designating them as Marine Protected Areas.
GVI.2014.2
Denis Island is a coralline island to the north of Mahé, situated on the edge of the plateau, while North Island is granitic and located close to Silhouette Island. The sur-‐veys focused on coral diversity and longevity, as well as the abundance and diversity of invertebrates and com-‐mercial and reef fish. The data collected will allow an as-‐sessment of the coastal areas of the two islands and help develop management guidelines. The survey teams were comprised of GVI and SNPA (Sey-‐chelles National Parks Authority) staff, with a week allo-‐cated to surveying each of the islands. Even though the weather conditions were a little challenging, the teams braved some rough seas and managed to complete all necessary surveys. The trips gave GVI staff a great oppor-‐
tunity to work more closely with some of our project partners, and to be part of other pro-‐jects working to safeguard the Seychelles marine environment. To keep up to date with all the latest news from the Marine Expedition project Follow GVI Cap Ternay on our Facebook page GVI SEYCHELLES MAHE & CURIEUSE and follow us on Twitter @GVISeychelles