Demarcation of the Marine National Parks begins at Curieuse |03 October 2005

The installation project is being implemented in-house by the staff of the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology-Marine Parks Authority (SCMRT-MPA) and its partners and is being funded by SCMRT-MPA and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), as part of its demonstration site project, at a cost of R463,000.

Curieuse Marine National Park is the first park to be demarcated under the project. Installation of the demarcation buoys is well under way despite heavy seas brought about by the South East winds which are making working conditions very difficult at times.

The local partners of SCMRT-MPA in this project are the GIS Unit in the Ministry of Land Use and Habitat, the Seychelles Coast Guard, the Maritime Safety Administration Division, the Department of Environment and the inhabitants of the Pasquere and Anse Possession area on Praslin.

Three young men from the region have been trained in diving by SCMRT-MPA diving instructors free of charge to equip them with the necessary skills to be able to participate in the project.

Anchors known as embedment anchors are being used for the project. When asked why SCMRT-MPA has opted to use this type of anchors rather than the conventional concrete dead weight, Nigel Hoareau, the manager of the Marine Parks Authority, said that embedment anchors cause less damage to the seabed during installation and are more stable than concrete dead weights that could be moved around by strong surges.

In sandy areas a 3-metre helix is used and inserted into the seabed using an underwater torque motor powered by a hydraulic compressor on the surface. 

In rocky areas a drill is used to drill the rocks into which a galvanised metal pin is inserted and secured with epoxy resin, these are the points of attachment of the demarcation buoy system to the seabed. 

Floats tied at 1/3 of the way along the stainless steel wires being used ensure that the wire does not drag on the sea floor and has no impact on the marine life.

SCMRT-MPA said that marine grade stainless steel is being used as components of the demarcation buoy system as it has higher strength and lower maintenance cost compared to ropes and normal steel.

Next in line for demarcation after Curieuse are Ile Cocos, Ste Anne, Port Launay and Bay Ternay marine national parks.

SCMRT-MPA said that the demarcation of the marine national parks was in its plan for the year 2005.

There have also been many demands by the public for the demarcation of the marine national parks indicating the general public are becoming more and more educated about the environment and want to know the boundaries of the marine national parks so that they can help in protecting them.

It must however be noted that no marine parks exist in a vacuum, requiring the general public to have an attitude of environmental conservation both within and outside the marine national parks.
 
Upon the completion of the demarcation project SCMRT-MPA said that the same types of anchoring system will be used to install more mooring buoys within the parks to be used by visiting boats and yachts.

This will give adequate moorings in the marine national park and is targeted at reducing incidences of people dropping anchor on corals and to improve the capacity of the marine national parks to supply coral larvae to damaged reefs outside the park boundaries.

In the long run SCMRT-MPA is thinking of offering buoys installation service using embedment anchors to people or companies wanting to have moorings or demarcation buoys installed.

Contributed by SCMRT-MPA