Barclays staff help refurbish Curieuse monument |06 July 2009

This experience, an event for Barclays colleagues, started with long delays with the ferry and an adventurous crossing to Curieuse, located some 25km from Mahe.

But this did not deter the determined staff who had signed up to help refurbish the Doctor’s House museum and tend to its adjoining grounds. In fact it provided a unique experience that would later be recounted to colleagues who were not able to join the trip.

Curieuse Marine National Park, comprising both terrestrial and marine protected areas, was once a leper colony, hence the surviving Doctor’s House and vestiges of the past settlement still visible in parts of the island.

The island is also home to endemic flora and fauna, including the black parrot, the world’s largest nut, the coco de mer, and an important population of giant land tortoises outside their natural habitat on Aldabra some 1000km away.

Curieuse also boasts the second largest and most diverse mangrove forest in Seychelles. Its pristine waters provide a safe haven for a huge array of marine wildlife, attracting many tourists.

Barclays staff have been associated with volunteering work on Curieuse for several years now. Activities in previous years included helping rangers conduct a census of giant tortoises, cutting and clearing trails, and preparing and installing information boards along the trails.

Funds were also provided to publish the Doctor’s House booklet, a visitors’ guide that is sold to help generate income for the island.
Barclays has also supported a number of education and awareness initiatives to help local school children better appreciate the role and importance of Curieuse Marine National Park as a protected area, and the benefits it brings to their local community. 

Commenting on this initiative, Colleen Morel, head of corporate affairs at Barclays Bank Seychelles said: “This activity features high on the Barclays Seychelles annual calendar of events and is an activity coveted by staff.

“Volunteering is a means of bringing Barclays one step closer to local communities by providing not only funds but also devoting time to the improvement of a particular environment, in this case a national and historical monument.

“Our efforts in rehabilitating the park on Curieuse were more meaningful this year as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.”