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Seychelles Blue Carbon

Background

Seychelles, classed by the United Nations as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), has a total landmass of 459 km2 and an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.35 million km2. Seychelles’ residents rely heavily on marine tourism and fishing revenue, however coastal wetlands have declined dramatically as a result of coastal development, and face added pressures with future sea level rise, increased storm surge, and salt water inundation.

Conservation Finance

Seychelles used the world’s first “debt for nature swap” and “blue bond” to support the conservation of its marine ecosystems.

Protection

Seychelles
pledged to protect
at least 50%
of its seagrasses
and mangroves
by 2025.


Extent

Blue carbon ecosystems in Seychelles cover more than 145,000 hectares.



Seagrass

Seagrass beds account for 99% of the blue carbon extent in Seychelles.



Mangroves

Mangrove forests cover 1,700 ha, with more than 80% of them located within the Aldabra Atoll.


Carbon stock

Seychelles’ blue carbon ecosystems hold over 17 million tonnes of organic carbon (or over 62 million tonnes CO2e).

Every year, Seychelles Blue Carbon ecosystems can capture more than 200,000 tonnes of organic carbon, equivalent to more than 60% of Seychelles’ annual CO2 emissions.

Seychelles blue carbon programs

Program 1: Exploring blue carbon opportunities 

In partnership with the James Michel Foundation, the Blue Carbon Lab developed a “Roadmap to Blue Carbon opportunities in the Seychelles” funded by a 2-year Blue Grant from SeyCCAT. This project explored Seychelles’ Blue Carbon future, by developing a first-pass assessment of potential Blue Carbon opportunities in Seychelles and building local capacity on Blue Carbon through a technical workshop.  Accounting for the ocean’s carbon offsetting capacity can help Seychelles remain a net carbon sink and achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). 

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Program 2: Mangrove carbon stock assessment

Blue Carbon Lab is leading a field-based blue carbon assessment for mangrove systems in the inner granitic islands and Aldabra/Cosmoledo Atolls of Seychelles to derive and analyse local-scale field data on above-ground biomass and soil organic carbon. Initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEECC) with financing from Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3) the results of this assessment will support the inclusion of mangrove ecosystems into Seychelles’ NDCs for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  

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Storymap

Submerge yourself into Seychelles’ mangrove forests and seagrass meadows through this interactive Storymap. Designed to raise awareness on the importance of blue carbon for climate mitigation, this is a great resource to explore Seychelles’ blue carbon opportunities and explore local initiatives advancing blue carbon science and raising community awareness.

Explore Seychelles’ Storymap
Seychelles_story_map_cover

Project outcomes

Click the links below to download the documents. Feel free to use them and share them with the correct attributions.

Literature review of blue carbon in the Western Indian Ocean

Download

Seychelles’ stakeholder questionnaire

Download

Seychelles’ Blue Carbon Roadmap

Download

Seychelles’ Blue Carbon Roadmap Appendices

Download

Literature review: Blue Carbon Research in the Tropical Western Indian Ocean

The research identified 131 studies examining the biomass or carbon stored in the Western Indian Ocean’s (WIO) mangroves and seagrass beds. Of these, 101 contained unique datasets, which were used in the study, 82 were based on mangrove ecosystems and 49 explored seagrass meadows, despite their higher distribution extent. This is likely to be because of mangrove’s higher carbon storage potential and easier access to sites and sampling. Almost half of the studies were published in the last 10 years, showing an increase in blue carbon research interest. Most studies were conducted along the mainland East African coast and only 4 in the Seychelles: 1 on mangroves, 3 on seagrass meadows. The main conclusions from the report:

Stakeholder Questionnaire: Blue Carbon Context in Seychelles

This report depicts the results of a stakeholder questionnaire intended to solicit local knowledge on the current social, political, ecological and scientific context of blue carbon ecosystems in Seychelles (i.e., mangrove forests and seagrass meadows). To achieve this, the questionnaire was distributed among stakeholders working in close connection to Seychelles’ coastal ecosystems. In total, 103 stakeholders from 56 organisations responded the questionnaire.  Our analysis of the questionnaire identified key points about the local attitudes, knowledge, and frameworks around Seychelles’ coastal ecosystems.

Roadmap: Seychelles’ Blue Carbon Roadmap

Seychelles’ Blue Carbon Roadmap sets a long-term path to establish a nation-wide, evidence-based program geared towards the protection and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Developed by BCL in collaboration with James Michel Foundation, the Roadmap proposes a series of social, scientific, governance, and financial actions that should be implemented over the next years.

3. Roadmap_Infographic

Selected Media and Outreach

  • Mangroves Seychelles’ blue carbon eco-system (Seychelles Nation, October 2022)
  • 7 pm news (SBC, 30th September 2022)
  • 7 pm news (SBC, 26th September 2022)
  • Climate strategy: ‘Seychelles Blue Carbon Roadmap’ handed over to government (Seychelles News Agency, September 2022)
  • Blue Carbon Roadmap: Towards capitalising Seychelles’ rich blue carbon potential (Seychelles Nation, September 2022)
  • Roadmap ready for protecting blue carbon ecosystems in Seychelles, says James Michel Foundation (Seychelles News Agency, July 2022)
  • How much blue carbon does Seychelles have? Local experts work on monitoring and awareness, (Seychelles News Agency, April 2022)
  • Roadmap to blue carbon opportunities in Seychelles (Seychelles Nation, April 2022)
  • First Blue Carbon study for Seychelles (Seychelles Nation, February 2020)
  • New Grant: Seychelles’ Roadmap to Blue Carbon Opportunities (BCL, February 20220)
  • Roadmap to Blue Carbon opportunities in the Seychelles, (SeyCCAT)
  • Seychelles Blue Carbon Journey (SeyCCAT)

Funding & Program Partners

This work is led by Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab. The Blue Carbon Roadmap project was funded by SeyCCAT (Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust) and done in collaboration with the James Michel Foundation. The mangrove carbon assessment project is funded by SWIOFish3 (World Bank) and is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

#SeychellesBlueCarbon

Follow this program on social media using #SeychellesBlueCarbon

Contact

Dr Maria del Mar Palacios (m.palacios@deakin.edu.au)

Deakin University
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
      • Professor Peter Macreadie
      • Dr Paul Carnell
      • Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett
      • Dr Maria M. Palacios
      • Dr Pawel Waryszak
      • Dr Melissa Wartman
      • Dr Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa
      • Dr Noyan Yilmaz
      • Dr Martino Malerba
      • Dr Lukas Schuster
      • Dr Tanveer Adyel
      • Dr Sabiha Marine
      • Dr Vincent Raoult
      • Dr Jacqui Pocklington
      • Interns and Volunteers
      • Alumni
  • Research
    • Blue Carbon
      • Seychelles Blue Carbon
      • Queensland Blue
      • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
      • Blue Carbon Management
      • Tea Composition H2O
    • Teal Carbon
      • Farm dams
      • Floating wetlands
      • Revitalising Australia’s Freshwater Wetlands
    • Valuing Ecosystem Services
      • Mapping Ocean Wealth
      • Guide to Valuing Coastal Wetlands
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Coastal Wetland Restoration
        • The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program
        • Regenerating Our Coasts
        • Towards Blue Carbon Australian Carbon Credit Units
      • Kelp restoration
      • Freshwater Wetland Restoration
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
      • GeelongPort citizen science
    • Microplastics
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Services
    • Wetland Carbon Assessments
    • Environmental Assessments
    • Environmental Restoration
    • Citizen Science
    • System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA)
    • Feasibility Assessments
    • Remote Sensing
    • Microbial Analysis
    • Marine Biosecurity
  • Publications
  • Opportunities
  • News
  • Donate
  • Contact
Blue Carbon Lab