The students from Praslin and La Digue are members of their secondary schools’ wildlife clubs and saw the recent planting day not only as a chance to do something different and make new friends, but to leave their mark on an island that was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami. 

“They’ll be able to look back and say they planted mangrove trees on Curieuse, and might  be inspired to revisit the site to check on their ‘investment’,” said Rodney Quatre, research section manager of the National Parks Authority (NPA), who was leading the expedition.

“And when they do return to Curieuse – to see their seedlings as healthy young plants – they’ll certainly have a story to tell when they get home.”
The day-long activitity to sow mangrove seeds and plant seedlings was part of a project aimed at regenerating a habitat that had suffered from the devastating effects of the tsunami. 

Initiated by the NPA, the project received a grant from the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Countries of the Indian Ocean (Recomap).

The students were accompanied by their teachers and a representative of the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) organisation, and were even joined in their planting work by tourists who were visiting the site at the time.

Apart from having wildlife club members taking part in an activity that will bring many benefits for the current and future generations, it also helped them to be more conscious of their environment and instilled in them a sense of pride at having contributed to nature’s wellbeing.

The visit to Curieuse also taught them a lot about mangroves, with information being fed to them by the NPA staff, MFF representative and Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles coordinator.

Seawall swept away by tsunami

To explain the need for new mangrove planting on the island, we need to go back as far as 1910 when a 500-metre seawall was built across Baie Laraie by Henri Chenard so he could rear hawksbill turtles in the lagoon thus formed.

The scheme was not a success as most of the turtles developed diseases and died, and by 1914 the project had been abandoned. However, the seawall remained and was used by visitors as a walkway; crucially, it also protected the shore and allowed mangroves to flourish.

Then, in the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, the wall was destroyed and waves deposited sand in the mangrove habitat which had previously been made up mostly of mud and freshwater.

This changed the sediment dynamics of the area and, with more sand being brought in, changed the substrate composition and smothered the mangroves, causing some of them to die off.

Two years ago the parks authority embarked on a project to rehabilitate the area. Answering a call for proposals from Recomap for projects on marine protected areas, it submitted a project focusing on tackling the mangrove situation on Curieuse.

When the NPA’s Curieuse project was approved, it received an encouraging R1.5 million grant, of which almost half was used to renovate the wooden boardwalk leading into the mangrove forest and put up fibreglass, weather-proof signs along the way giving information on the flora and fauna of the site.

The grant also paid for various other sub-projects on the island, such as renovating the former doctor’s house – now used as an information centre and museum – and modernising the information displays inside.

The reception area is also being upgraded to cater for the sale of souvenirs to visitors.

Office and field staff join to get muddy
The mangrove planting day also brought together NPA staff from both the office and field – from Mahe and Praslin – led by Mr Quatre.
 
“Since part of the Deparment of Environment’s Forestry Division is now under our umbrella, we decided to bring everybody together for this activity,” he said.

“In many instances, staff from the office and field do not get the chance to work directly together or even get to know each other, which we see as important since we are working towards the same aim, which is the protection and conservation of the environment.”

He added that this was also a good opportunity for the “office staff” to go outdoors and learn more about what happens on the field as well as increase their appreciation of the local biodiversity.

New mangroves lock roots with the old
The two types of mangrove planted were the Rhizophora mucronata, locally known as Mangliye Rouz, and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (Mangliye Zerof), and 800 to 900 seeds of each were put in.

The NPA also has a nursery where seedlings are prepared, but their Recomap project coordinator Sylvanna Antha said planting seeds directly into the ground has been more successful for them since crabs have shown a taste for the nursery seedlings.

Although waves are still depositing sand in the mangrove site, Mr Quatre said the new plants are expected to adapt to the new environment.

“The older mangrove trees were so used to the mud and freshwater habitat that this new type of soil being brought in so suddenly unsettled them to the point where they died out,” he said. 

“However, the new plants are expected to adjust and even thrive in their sandy surroundings.”

Mr Quatre said for financial reasons students from Mahe could not be included in the planting activity, but he hopes they will take up similar initiatives at school or community level, where the department is ready to share its expertise and lend a helping hand.

Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles coordinator Terrence Vel said the event was fitting as it took place during the school holidays and gave the students a fun day out without them having to miss classes.

“It is only fair that a project aimed at benefiting them in the future should have them lending a helping hand at its beginning, so this project can be considered as being done with them for them,” he said.So what next?
Although the seeds now have the task of taking root and reaching skywards, the NPA’s

work does not stop here.

Follow-up activities will be carried out, where the staff will monitor the mangroves as they have been doing with previous batches planted. This activity is expected to carry on beyond the scope of the Recomap project.

 Miss Antha said they are also now appealing for donations to rebuild the seawall.
“The wall being damaged was the main cause of our having to initiate the mangrove rehabilitation, so it would make more sense and boost the rehabilitation work if the wall were to be rebuilt,” she said.

CURIEUSE – A BRIEF HISTORY

Located 2km north-east of Praslin and discovered in 1744 by French mariner Lazare Picault, the island was originally named Isle Rouge because of its distinctive red soil visible from the sea. The French claimed possession in 1768, and it was renamed Curieuse after a ship whose commander Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne was exploring the area.

Curieuse is also known as a place where leprosy sufferers were confined – from 1829 until 1965 – and the ruins of the old leper settlements have become a tourist attraction.
 
From time to time after it was settled, the island was leased to private companies who invested in producing vanilla, copra and livestock, but all this came to an end in 1967 when a fire destroyed an extensive part of the island’s vegetation ? including over 150 coco de mer palms.

The government took back the island, started reforestation and conservation projects and the island was declared a national park in 1979.

MANGROVE FACTFILE

- Curieuse has seven of the eight species of mangroves known to Seychelles.
- Mangroves are an important natural resource. They perform many crucial physical functions as well as provide economic benefits to people.
- Healthy mangroves protect the coastline by acting as wave breaks. They stabilise coastlines, prevent erosion, promote coastal build-up and serve as the first line of natural barriers against torrential storms.

- Mangroves trap debris, sediments, excess nutrients and toxins, and through this natural filtering process the water quality of tidal rivers that drain through mangroves into the sea is improved.
- Mangroves act as windbreaks which reduce the force of winds that may destroy or damage property.
- They are among the plants most able to capture carbon dioxide and can trap the gas above ground in their leaves and roots.
- They protect outlying coral reefs by absorbing freshwater run-off from the land as excess freshwater alters the salinity of the seawater and leads to reef damage.

- Mangrove forests are home to many plants and animals, some of which may be endangered. Many water birds and migratory birds roost, feed and nest in mangrove areas.
- Mangroves are excellent breeding and nursery grounds for fish, prawns and crabs. They are also feeding areas for larger fish such as snappers, which visit mangroves to feed on smaller fish.
- Mangroves are, therefore, very important for supporting the fisheries industry, which generates a high amount of revenue for the country.

Ivan Hollanda