We need to talk… Yes!!! It’s the big statement. Are you wondering if you did something wrong? Well… let’s see. You did more than one thing wrong. I want to say that one of those things is being born in a century where no one really communicates anymore but I would be a hypocrite to do that (for obvious reasons)
Thousands of years ago to receive a piece of information, it could either be an emergency or not you will have to wait several hours to receive it. But innovative people starting with Graham Bell thought that we should receive information faster than riding a horse through miles of the country. Nowadays we can just click, double click and an information can travel to the other side of the world. Yes…these are all brilliant. Now to my problem. Some people might say that we are inferior because we are youth. We don’t know anything because we are still young. We don’t have enough experience to give suggestions. But I want to say that we do have a voice and I believe that is the message we need to be sending out there and I think that is the message that goes on in the minds of the Blue Economy interns. We feel like we have a responsibility to look after the best interest of our country. The Seychelles Island is one of the most fascinating destination in the world. Not my opinion it’s a worldwide opinion. With its unique placement and out of the ordinary rock composition. We may not all want to get scientific about the blue economy, but I think we all have the shared interest of making sure that our home upholds its beauty and its endemic composition. Seychelles as a whole is an astounding Micro Continent; from its colorful population to its natural ecosystem. So…do you still want to say that the blue economy is a stupid concept? Or do you still want to say that the blue economy doesn’t benefit you? The ocean is the key to mostly every door in Seychelles, it could be because you want to open your own shop (let me point out that the supplies will come on a ship that will float over the ‘ocean’) or you could simply want to be a hotel manager. One way or the other it all connects to the ocean. So think again…how important do you think the blue economy is? How important is the Blue Economy to your future? I’ll answer the question. Very, Very…Very (there aren’t enough very to put before important) and extremely important. Tourism and Fisheries the two main pillars also depends on the Blue Economy. I’m not asking anyone to buy a cargo ship tomorrow but to simply put the word out there about how important the Blue Economy is, or read the blogs of my other colleagues. They write about how each of their organisation contribute to the Blue Economy and they also give their own views about the blue economy. What are you waiting for? Tweet. Pin. Insta… and go check out the SYAH website. Cheers Joshua Sofola
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Hello there! It's Carol again with my final blog post. I hope you enjoy reading it.
During the final week, Nathalie (my fellow #BEintern) and I were privileged to witness the dissection of octopus by Professor Pacco Bustemante studying ecotoxicolgy from the University of Le Rochelle of France. His goal was to obtain samples of the different tissues (such as the beak, the muscles and the liver) from various octopus of different age, size and sex. These samples collected from one species of octopus of the western Indian Ocean are to be analysed in high tech labs back in France. The objective of this sampling was to determine whether the concentration of metallic contaminants varied from tissue to tissue in the octopus. This information is useful since it has been suggested that there is a relationship between the level of contaminants present in that area of sea and that of the octopus‘ tissues. In other words, octopus could possibly be a good indicator of the health of that maritime area. The professor was accompanied by two of SFA's lab technicians and one scientist, for the task of sampling. He explained many interesting details of the octopus throughout the tricky dissection and sampling. For example, octopus are very intellectual creatures which have three hearts and they have a very effective digestive system which is one of the reasons why they grow at such a quick rate. Very fascinating indeed! On the bottom line, these two weeks which went by too quickly, was an amazing learning experience. I am extremely grateful to the British High commission, SYAH, SFA, my qualified supervisor and everyone else involved. The BE internship course has come to an end, but our journeys in the BE have yet begun. I can safely say that I have walked away with a whole lot more knowledge and experience on the blue economy concept, and a better view of the needs required for the country’s sustainable development and the world of work itself. Thank you! Hello people...Alvania again
Growing up as a Seychellois, we have always seen bats. They are as popular as trees in the environment. This is part of the reason that I did not believe it when Teesha Baboorun and Francois Baguette told us that a type of bat was critically endangered. I could not imagine such a patronised mammal near extinction. In spite on this, during the last week of our internship on Silhouette Island with Island Conservation Society (ICS), we worked on identifying their frequency on the bat logger and read numerous books about them, but it was still hard to believe. However, on Thursday 15th December we left the office around 14 00 for the journey that would change our perception. Prior to the start of our short trek, we were warned not to tell anyone about the sheath-tailed bat's location as this would pose a threat to their tiny population. Due to this, I cannot thoroughly explain the location nor can I provide pictures. The most I can say about the path leading to it is that it was un-noticeable and a place that would be very difficult to detect. At first when we got to the cave, I could not identify any sheath-tailed bats...but when I looked through a pair of binoculars I could see them. They were so small and the darkness of the cave had camouflaged them. In the first cave I could only count two. Then we moved to the second cave but this time I did not need binoculars. We counted twenty-two of them. They we noticeable because they were hanging in a group. Yes...the population of the sheath-tailed bats are only twenty-four in total. They, being so small does not help either. As this makes them more vulnerable to extinction because they can be harmed easily. They feed on insects, so the lack of insects because of fogging or spraying of insecticides will result in a decline in their population. They are like the small onyx of Seychelles. Precious, rare and tiny (their total width including their wings are the size of two small hands put alongside each other). They are nothing like the fruit bats that we see every day. They are part of the reason that Seychelles is unique. So let us protect the sousouri bannann (sheath-tailed bat). Two weeks, 14 days, 336 hours flew by so fast. Already the first phase of the Blue Economy Internship is done. Now, as we interns wait for the next phase (that is if we are selected). I must admit that my experience was a memorable two weeks. On my end I was able to meet with so many people both at the Seychelles Coast Guard and Seychelles Air force. I was given the chance to throw away public’s perception on the army and see it from my own personal point of view. From that morning when I stepped inside the military based at the Coast Guard I was immediately impressed by the level of discipline I saw in the army officials. (Oh how remarkable it is was!). Everyone was punctual, every one greeted each other with a polite good morning and all those that had their task to do was doing so without letting themselves be distracted. Indeed I believe that we civilian can also make use of more discipline in our daily task! All personnel at the Coast guard and Air force were friendly and enthusiastic to teach and share what they knew. I even learn so many new things in the field I thought I would never have an interest in. The amount of things learnt during the two weeks did surpass my expectation. One thing I also noticed was the amount of training opportunities that soldiers do get on an annual basis. I even had the chance to attend piloting classes with trainee pilots. They also have numerous course offers sending people abroad to study. In regards to the Blue Economy itself, the internship enabled me to learn more about this concept- the strength, weaknesses and challenges that we Seychelles have or will have to establish a solid blue economy. I was also asked by many who saw me at the SCG or SAF whether I was going to join the army? (Which I actually thought about during the two weeks…). When I answered no, I told them that I was here instead for a Blue Economy internship- a recently created initiative for young people by young people. What followed were a list of questions on the Blue economy and I found myself having to answer it all-thus enabling me to raise more awareness on the concept itself. What is more, as our blog was posted and it got shared on Facebook more people approach me saying they also wanted to be part of the internship- I told them that we were passed due deadline… but that hopefully next year and the year after that they also can apply and also get the opportunity to expand their knowledge on the Blue Economy concept. On a personal level, I was able to learn more on how to navigate through unfamiliar environment and unfamiliar atmosphere on my own (mind you I was new to a military setting, surrounding, discipline and code of conduct and their lifestyle). During the first week I was the only intern at coastguard and same for the second week at airforce. I embraced the challenge and I made it work! One last thought, a pretty sad one too: There is a huge lack of more female personnel in the military. Being a strong believer for gender equality; in my first week at coast guard I asked around for the number of female officers there. And the respond I received left me in shock. There are not many girls and women in uniform at coast guard. The work environment I saw while working at both SAF and SCG is built for men and women alike. Thus I believe that more women and girls should consider there as a career possibility. For those women and young girls that I saw there and at the air force; I salute them and I admire their bravery to join the military. All of them I must say was doing a remarkable work. They were excelling at what they were doing and I felt proud all along! At airforce there was not even one women. I was told though that they do have two women army personnel; including one that was studying abroad. I think that to do away with gender inequality in the force there is a need for us civilian to change our mindset associate with the army. After all, the work they do range from being soldiers, administrative officers, accountant, pilots, engineer and many more and all these are jobs that we women can easily do. Plus, women are already doing these types of job every day but only not in a military setting... so what if it’s in a military setting? Should this be a setback? No, instead it should be a challenge that comes with pride to be an army officer. As I near my final blog ( I must say at this point that I have never blog so much in my entire life!!) I would like to say a big Thank You to all those who did read my blogs. Thank You also to Seychelles Coast Guard and Seychelles Airforce for accepting us interns. A huge thank you to British High commission and CYC. Biggest thank you to SYAH-Seychelles esp. ( Kalsey , Angelique and Anthea) for making this a reality. I hope that all interns came out of the internship a different and a better person. Hope more youth will benefit from this initiative in the coming years. Cheers. Shantana Barbe Tough exterior and interior, sporting a black body suit with several orange spots. The lady can shove, drag and tug all other ladies successfully, ranging from petite figures to large overweight taunt women. She can be fierce especially when facing tough routes along her path and she can also be gentle. The Lady I talk about vaguely is none other than, Rose-Mary, One of SPA’s Tug Boats She’s equipped with projectors, hydrants and foam tanks for firefighting… The lady has 30 Tones Bollard pull and can go at a speed of 11Knots and ranges 1600 Nautical Miles. #Queening Mariana and I had the opportunity to meet up with one of Rose-Mary’s captains, Captain Samedi. He even gave me the honour of navigating the Lady for a few minutes. This just proves to explain just how hands on the people at Seychelles Port Authority are, they go to extremes to make sure their interns or members on work attachment get the full experience, and in the process attract young to maybe pursue a career that will allow one to work at the SPA in the future. Costa My Wednesday lunchtime was spent in the company of Mr. Ralph, Marianna, Anna Yang (fellow Intern) and her supervisor Ms. Ella on board the queen of leisure on the sea Costa NeoRomantica. A menu that made the mouth water, desert was #Amazing… sadly due to security reasons we weren’t able to visit all sections of the boat, which by the way includes a state of the art medical centre on board as well as morgue, #Crazy Right? Just shows how carefully they’ve catered to their client’s every need. Farewell #SAD_DAY My two weeks were spent amazingly at the SPA… so good that I’m considering going back some day! #Amazing Workforce, #Experienced Leaders, #Gifted People. If I would to sit and write about how crazy awesome SPA is, I think I’d be here seated in front of my laptop for a good two days… so some pictures would do some justice I guess… By the way for all you out there who think the port is all about dealing with fish and containers from cargo vessels, boy are you all #Wrong and need to broaden your knowledge. On my final note, I’ll leave you with a quote from Mr. Bianchi and I, ‘Change and development are good, just so as long as we are being environmentally friendly’… Till then my friends, take care and remember, we #Live in #Paradise, love our amazing island, do not litter, do not pollute willingly and as much as we can #GoGreen. As Mr. Andre Ciseau, the Chief Executive Officer at SPA said, ‘annou devlope pou nou fitir, tou aksyon ki nou pran annou fer li pou en meyer demen’ which in English means ‘let us develop for the future, all actions we do, do it for a better tomorrow.’ Indeed, wise words from a wise man. And just like my supervisor would always remind us, life is simple if you take it easy and sing a few songs here and there. NB I didn’t manage to get a picture with the sweet and loving Ms. Freda who is the CEO’s PS and Mr. Ralph Charlette… two key figures aside the above who made my two weeks one never to forget.
Written by Melissa Jumaye What is Blue Economy? During my 2 weeks internship at Seychelles Air Force and Seychelles Coast guard I have been asked this question several times. Many of us hear it everyday but still do not have a clue what it’s really about. I personally think it is when we use the many resources available in the sea in a sustainable manner in order to develop and improve the economy. Resources may include from living organism to oil or even salt. Such resources are vital to our survival and we have been using it for many years. However we do not realise that someday some of those resources may finish or become extinct if we over exploit or simply by our everyday actions that help contribute to global warming. Why do we have to bother about the Blue Economy? As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, Seychelles has an Exclusive Economic zone about six times the size of the United Kingdom and to add on it, it is slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington DC. The bigger the size, the potential for more resources and as for Seychelles it is mostly water than land. So imagine the large number of resources we have in our ocean and most are yet to be discovered. In fact according to National Geographic “which I like watching so much” we have been able to identify only 10 percent of the species in the world’s oceans. That tells us that we have enormous opportunities from our ocean yet to benefit from thus I personally encourage further explorations but definitely in a sustainable way. Do we all benefit? To answer this question we must think about how we benefit from the Blue economy. One of the most obvious examples is a fisherman who goes out everyday and fish to sell it afterwards. So he/she directly benefits from one of the oceans resources to make a living, but who does he/she sell it too? The consumers are us, thus we have also benefited. What about our economy? By using our own resources in our ocean which is accessible for free, we do not need to import thus saving a lot of money. In addition if I take the example of IOT (Indian Ocean Tuna), they export the tuna which has been taken from our ocean thus bringing money into the country. Why is it now that it is being stressed on? During the years human beings have exploited many of the earth’s resources both on land and in water but due to the oceans being mostly inaccessible to us we have missed a lot of potential resources from our oceans. So since the earth has more water than land does our oceans contains more resources than on land alone? If that’s the case then imagine how much this would solve many of the world’s issues including famine, malnutrition’s or even poverty. Yes!!! Poverty also can be solved. The fisherman I mentioned before would not have a living if he/she did not have access to the ocean, thus our ocean’s resources can provide many and many jobs for people all around the world. Having a free source of nutrient also allows us to spend less on buying other expensive goods which decreases the amount of money each of us needs to survive. Did you know that we can also find minerals such as copper and nickel in our oceans? The ocean is literally the richest place on earth as most of its resources are yet to be touched. Imagine the Somali pirates gaining access to such materials. This would end the need for them to do any piracy, but how can Somalia be located near the ocean and yet it is still one of the poorest country on earth? There are many answers one can give but this shows that more effort has to be taken to educate people about the ways in which one can benefit from the ocean and its many resources. While I was doing my internship at coast guard I learned that sea water is being used to cool down the engines of their boats. I’m sure that’s the case with many boats nowadays; however this shows us that our ocean can be useful to us in many ways, in ways yet to be discovered. Imagine if we are able to discover and achieve all the things that I’ve mentioned in this blog, Will it really solve many of our problems? Written by Daryl Onezime If you didn’t catch my last blog, then I’ll mention again that my name is Raina Nicette. My last week at I.O.T was pretty hectic in the sense that I got the chance to visit five labs and a large fishing vessel. As always, I started at the water lab, where this time I got to measure turbidity, conductivity, the amount of chlorine and more titration. I’m sure you’ve seen me mention a lot about titration in the previous blog, however it’s not always the same process.
Titration is the slow addition of one solution of a known concentration (called a titrant) to a known volume of another solution of unknown concentration, until the reaction reached neutralization, which is often indicated by a color change. See my fascination now? What’s better than making something change color? It’s like when Jesus turned water into wine. Except if I drank what I made it would be fatal. The second lab I went to was the histamine lab. It’s in the name, we tested histamine there. Now you may be wondering what histamine is. Well, it is a form of food poisoning. Every fish has a certain amount of histamine in it. But when that amount exceeds is required dose, it can affect the consumer’s health. The third lab I went to was the heavy metal lab. It was pretty sophisticated as there were new equipment in it. There, I got the chance to work with liquid cadmium (which is a chemical element). I also worked with nitric acid, which occasionally fell on my gloves and I was very thankful that I had followed all safety procedures. I also went to the micro lab, where I learned how to test fish for salmonella and how to test areas of work for e-coli. This was done by preparing petri-dish samples with agar and then incubating the sample and later seeing if there was any growth or color change. The intake lab was the last one I visited, where I got the chance to see how they tested fish for salt, and I was also allowed to prepare samples. Now we actually went to where the samples were cut out of the fish. And this was a large fishing vessel. I got the chance to see the samples being cut from yellow fin, big eye and skipjack tuna. I also learned how to distinguish one from the other. See, yellow fin is easily identifiable because of the yellow fin. Skipjacks are identifiable from its small size and the vertical lines on its body (if holding it tails-up). Big eye tuna can be identified from its big eyes and spotted horizontal lines on its body. The experience was quite unforgettable and I will surely be using everything I have learned for future studies. I am looking forward to perhaps working at i.o.t one day. I would like to thank my supervisor Selwyn Bacharrie for making this experience worthwhile and would also like to thank the friends that I have made there for easing the process of being the new girl. The Blue Economy Internship is surely something that all youth should attempt. I guarantee no regrets and lots of amazing memories. Lots of love, Raina Nicette It was the first day of week 2 and this time I had a new work place, Seychelles Coastguard which is situated on Ile perseverance. I was excited to see my new environment as this time I was not too nervous like in the first week since I had already adapted a bit to the military style and their work place. I also had a new partner with me this time, Frances who was at WiseOceans for the first week. After meeting our supervisor we started our tour of the place and I was impressed by how the base was being well maintained. There were military personnel cleaning and trimming the grass. We visited the Jetty were we saw a variety of different types of military boats that they use for their daily operations. We also visited the place where they store their ammunitions and their recreational facilities such as a gym and a T.V room, which had the most comfortable sofa we’ve ever seen. We were attached to the M.O.C (Maritime Operations Centre) for the day. That was the room were they conducted all their surveillance and communicated with boats and also the Seychelles Air Force.
Entering the room my attention was immediately caught by a screen displaying our EEZ and on it we could see a large number of boats which was sailing our ocean. We were explained how some of the systems work and it was now that I really understood why having VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) onboard boats was so important. With such an equipment details such as the boats’ name, speed and heading could be known by just one click. This is vital information and can help detect if a boat is in distress or has been hijacked. However the bigger vessels and the international ones use a more advance equipment known as AIS (Automatic Identification System). I was amazed to see the number of boats passing through the Indian Ocean at one time. I was also shown how to use the radio and in a matter of seconds I was already answering radio calls while my colleague Frances handled the telephone call. This was no doubt a busy job and at times we were answering two calls per minute. Second day we got the chance to go with 2 coast guard officers patrol the port and around Eden Island. So why do they do patrols? When they patrol they look out for any abnormalities such as a person or a boat in distress, moreover they also look for illegal fishing and other illegal activities. Unfortunately the patrol was not long and we were soon back to base for lunch. We were lucky to get another patrol the next day but this time we were going to head north to Beau Vallon. As soon as we got into open water I took the controls and turned the boat north. Yes!!! I was the one piloting the boat this time. Although it took me some time to fully adapt to the boat I was feeling quite comfortable. Unfortunately as we reached the coast of North East Point the Coast guard officers was called in for a meeting. At that moment I started turning the steering with all my strength so that the boat turned right 180 degrees. Frances now took control and was given the task to bring us back to base. After reaching the base we took a well deserved rest in the super comfortable sofa as we waited for the bus back to town. During the days were we did not go to patrol we spend most time aboard their bigger boats such as Hermes, Andromache, and Etoile. We where explained about the different equipments onboard and I was personally interested about the navigational instruments. However I soon found out that the real heart of the boat was no doubt the engine room since without it the boat would be useless. As a whole my days at coast guard was really great and I learned a lot from the coast guard officers. They were highly disciplined and very kind to us and they helped made our experience an unforgettable one. Hey there! It’s Sarah here and I just completed my two week internship with Island Conservation Society on Aride Island yesterday afternoon after coming from a very rough trip on the sea to Praslin to meet the very sweet, fast-talking Kalsey Belle to hand in my weekly report and performance sheet together with the lanyard at the Oasis Hotel and collect my stipend allowance (I thought they were Euros! Being on an island gets you very outdated). This internship has taught me a lot, not only about birds and conservation but also life skills such as cooking and depending on myself.
I still remember crystal-clearly on my very first day, I was stirring my mini-sized pot of lentils tirelessly for more than three quarters of an hour trying to get it to a creamy consistency but it just would not work out! The manager of the island, Mr Uzice Samedi peeked into my kitchen to see whether I was settling in alright and he asked me if I had added salt at the beginning for he had already realised what was happening. I replied rather meekly with a shallow nod. He simply chuckled and explained that I must add all my seasonings at the end when it was at the desired consistency. Now I am a lentils expert! Just kidding I’m still a beginner *blushing*. Aride relies solely on solar power since their generator broke down less than two years ago hence electricity is unavailable early morning and late night. I sometimes wake up in a pool of sweat, completely drenched and overwhelmed by the heat. I have to go outside a sit down in the traditional creole armchair (fotey) to get some fresh air and open up the windows which I deliberately close every night to keep the mice, geckos and ghosts out. Trying to sleep with the mysterious noises of the shearwaters is a problem, but waking up in the morning is a whole other level of difficulty. The cool, early morning breeze and the soft, rosy sunlight caressing my face resulted in me touching the snooze icon on my phone several times before I could build up enough will power to wake up at 7:20am which gave me 10 minutes to pull on my swimsuit and go push the zodiac and get ready for clients. In order to land on Aride, the zodiac (a neon-orange dingy) has to ‘beach’ land, simply meaning coming straight onto the beach at full speed (an experience which causes the tourists to shriek and shout in excitement and fear ). Working on Aride came with some challenges, such as sunburns and mosquito bites but these soon became normal, scrambling about in the dirt looking for cockroaches to feed the magpie robins becomes second-nature and performing shearwater censuses in the middle of the night by looking into burrows in the woods and under rocks results in an unforgettable adventure. Staying positive and open-minded by mingling with all the workers on the island and volunteering to do things kept me content. Looking forward to the sunsets while snacking on organic tomatoes at the end of each day was a motivation and helped me really appreciate nature to the fullest. Watching the sun melt in a pool of gold and the salmon-pink clouds soften in the background was a sight to see and the soft-white sand slip through my toes was a relief to my small feet from trekking around in the woods in a pair of tight-fitting, heavy shoes all day. I would sometimes forget that I was a ‘Blue Economy’ Intern, mainly because I was on an island and I, honestly, had this illusion that the Blue Economy was only pin-pointed towards our ocean, our Seychelles Economically Exclusive Zone (SEEZ). But is it really? It’s true that the main perspective of the Blue Economy is to ensure that exploitations of our oceans is done in a sustainable fashion and so that the future generations can enjoy the fruits, or as Mr Vincent Meriton said in the opening ceremony that was done two weeks ago, the ‘Blue Gold’ of our waters! But what about on land? Surely the fish and marine ecosystems would be greatly affected if there weren’t any proper sewage treatments. Or if our farmers used chemical fertilisers and pesticides that would eventually leech into the sea. If we did not have lawyers and authorities educated in universities and established on land respectively, who would impose the law and draft policies? Who would decide whether or not to give a vessel licenses to fish in our waters or open seasons for delicacies such as lobster and sea cucumber? Aride is eco-friendly and its contributions may be small but they are definitely not insignificant. Using solar power, practicing organic farming, collecting rainwater, and respecting the marine park around Aride and fishing outside of it is a genuine start. I would like to, at last, say an immense thank you to everyone on the island for making my stay as pleasant as possible and for teaching me so many new things including my supervisor, Melinda Curran who is an energetic woman who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty; thank you for always cheering me up and helping me see the wonders of being in wildlife, SYAH for organising this internship, selecting me and placing me with ICS which couldn’t have being more well-suited for me and the British High Commission for their utmost support and funding especially for the 13 lucky interns who will be going to Mauritius next year, I wish you all good-luck ! Renewable energy is and has been a growing topic throughout the past few years. We all know by now that it is important that Seychelles works hard towards achieving its goal of increasing its production of energy through renewable resources by a considerable amount in the near future.
It is likely that you have heard about the solar energy project being implemented in Seychelles. You may have overheard conversations about it or seen it on TV. You may know somebody who has a PV panel on their roof or even be in possession of one yourself. My point is that it’s all about energy from the sun! Few know that there are other resources out there, the earth is full of potential renewables just waiting to be put to good use. Other forms of renewable energy include; wind, tidal, wave, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass and others. So all we have to do is pick the most suitable one available to Seychelles and start using it. Right? Well not exactly. It is a great deal more complicated than that but we are trying. Bear in mind that we wouldn’t put so much effort into it if it was not that important (so help save energy). Obviously tidal and wave energy would be our best choices apart from solar and wind considering our environment offers abundant establishment opportunities. Despite its benefits, renewable energy development and installation is not cheap. Maintenance as well adds up onto the cost creating a barrier. But let’s say we had the funding and could afford to invest in this new technology. Would we? We want to make sure that we’re investing in what needs to be a successful project. At the moment the idea is still too new to consider. Marine renewables technology is still being tested and we cannot afford to put money into something that may fall apart along the way or may just not be cost effective or efficient. Furthermore it must also be reliable in withstanding the environment. For example, rough seas, salinity, ocean current, depth pressure, biological growth and floating debris are all threats to the prosperity of such a project. For these reasons we haven’t really adopted tides or waves as a source of energy (yet). We are just as concerned with the good state of our ocean as we are with clean energy. However, don’t think that Seychelles doesn’t get any energy from the sea. The eight wind turbines located near Mahe supply an input of 8 percent of Mahe’s electricity demand reducing fossil fuel dependency. The wind powering the turbines is offshore wind that comes from the sea, in terms that land reclamation is also part of the Blue Economy concept. Therefore even without direct contact the sea, the Blue Economy proves to have a diverse range of benefits to the population of the Seychelles’ islands. Written by Nikita Rennie |
AuthorThe interns of the Prosperity & Environment: Promoting sustainable development opportunities for youth in the Blue Economy sector. Archives
January 2018
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