Prince of Wales commends Seychelles’ conservation record
The Prince of Wales has commended Seychelles on its environmental protection record in terms of sustainability and protecting its land territory by law.
The Prince is a well-known advocate for environmental protection and the fight against climate change.
Prince Charles met President James Michel in a bilateral meeting at the Tintagel Hotel in Colombo after the official opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last Friday.
The meeting was opened by HRH the Prince on behalf of the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and hosted by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
During their meeting, President Michel and the Prince of Wales discussed ways in which Seychelles and the UK can engage in developing innovative programmes together to mobilise support all the world for these causes.
“We must also strengthen our efforts to establish protected areas which contribute towards carbon reduction, and Seychelles is proud to have designated 50% of its land territory as protected - the largest proportion in the world,” noted President Michel.
The President spoke to the Prince about the blue economy concept which Seychelles is advocating and the way it can be developed through policies and programmes, as well as the HRH’s own charitable organisations.
“We have committed to declare 30% of our Exclusive Economic Zone as protected ocean areas, which form part of our Convention on Biological Diversity targets. … We discussed how we can work together to stop the further deterioration of our ecosystem and slow down climate change as we are both passionate about these global concerns,” said President Michel.
The President also discussed the ‘Debt for Adaptation’ swaps that has been endorsed by this Commonwealth meeting. It is a practical tool that Seychelles has proposed towards addressing both the debt burden of Small Island Developing States (Sids) as well as their need to urgently mobilise support for climate change adaptation.
“We discussed the ways to enhance sustainable fisheries by creating marine-protected areas and leveraging financing to mitigate the loss of income from reduced fishing over a period of time, but raising the value of fishing in the long term, so that fisheries becomes more viable,” said President Michel.
Piracy in the western Indian Ocean was also a topic of discussion, where the role that Seychelles has played in fighting the maritime threat was elaborated, in particular the success of Seychelles’ anti-piracy operations.
“Your Royal Highness, it has been a great pleasure to meet with you today, and we would like to welcome you to the shores of our beautiful Seychelles…. I look forward to many more years of friendship and cooperation with the UK,” said the President.
Also present at the meeting was the Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam.
The Prince is a well-known advocate for environmental protection and the fight against climate change.
Prince Charles met President James Michel in a bilateral meeting at the Tintagel Hotel in Colombo after the official opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last Friday.
The meeting was opened by HRH the Prince on behalf of the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and hosted by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
During their meeting, President Michel and the Prince of Wales discussed ways in which Seychelles and the UK can engage in developing innovative programmes together to mobilise support all the world for these causes.
“We must also strengthen our efforts to establish protected areas which contribute towards carbon reduction, and Seychelles is proud to have designated 50% of its land territory as protected - the largest proportion in the world,” noted President Michel.
The President spoke to the Prince about the blue economy concept which Seychelles is advocating and the way it can be developed through policies and programmes, as well as the HRH’s own charitable organisations.
“We have committed to declare 30% of our Exclusive Economic Zone as protected ocean areas, which form part of our Convention on Biological Diversity targets. … We discussed how we can work together to stop the further deterioration of our ecosystem and slow down climate change as we are both passionate about these global concerns,” said President Michel.
The President also discussed the ‘Debt for Adaptation’ swaps that has been endorsed by this Commonwealth meeting. It is a practical tool that Seychelles has proposed towards addressing both the debt burden of Small Island Developing States (Sids) as well as their need to urgently mobilise support for climate change adaptation.
“We discussed the ways to enhance sustainable fisheries by creating marine-protected areas and leveraging financing to mitigate the loss of income from reduced fishing over a period of time, but raising the value of fishing in the long term, so that fisheries becomes more viable,” said President Michel.
Piracy in the western Indian Ocean was also a topic of discussion, where the role that Seychelles has played in fighting the maritime threat was elaborated, in particular the success of Seychelles’ anti-piracy operations.
“Your Royal Highness, it has been a great pleasure to meet with you today, and we would like to welcome you to the shores of our beautiful Seychelles…. I look forward to many more years of friendship and cooperation with the UK,” said the President.
Also present at the meeting was the Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam.
Forrás: www.nation.sc