Thai ambassador plants coco-de-mer seedling in Botanical Garden |16 September 2021
The newly accredited ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Seychelles, Sasirit Tangulrat, has visited the Botanical Garden which includes a Thai Garden with exotic plants species and spices from the south-east Asian country.
The highlight of the visit however was when Ambassador Tangulrat planted a coco-de-mer seedling in the garden. The seed was planted next to a germinated coco-de-mer seedling planted on August 3, 2019 by former President of the Republic of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
This was in the presence of the chief executive of the Seychelles Parks and Garden Authority (SPGA), Allen Cedras; director of the Seychelles Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (SIAH), Marie-Anne Marie; Consul Designate for Thailand in Seychelles, Alexandra Benoiton and staff of the authority.
“It is very beautiful and unique because you have a lot of coco-de-mer which is the symbol of Seychelles and Thailand would love to cooperate with Seychelles to do some research so that Seychelles can get more benefit from the coco-de-mer,” Ambassador Tangulrat said.
She added that the visit to the garden was very meaningful as it reflects the people to people relation between the Thais and Seychellois.
She noted that the Thai garden is being well taken care of and in future she will bring more Thai herbs to add to the garden.
“So I would love to further strengthen the cooperation with this Botanical Garden,” the ambassador stated, noting that she is looking forward for the coco-de-mer to germinate the next time she visits the country.
Before planting the seed, which is expected to germinate in six months to one year, the ambassador held a meeting with the management of the authority.
The government of Thailand has in the past collaborated with the then National Botanical Gardens Foundation (NBGF) on a number of projects such as the development of the Thai Garden and micro-propagation and tissue culture laboratory. Under a memorandum, the Thai government supported the Botanical Garden in the fields of horticulture, botany and ethno-botany, biotechnology, education and biodiversity conservation. Personnel from both NBGF and SIAH in the past benefited immensely from capacity building programmes locally and overseas, organised by the Thai government.
So the aim of the meeting was for the two parties to discuss on further strengthening the existing relation.
In his presentation, Mr Cedras said the authority will, apart from other supported exchanges from the Thai government, be looking for assistance in technical support to enhance its micro-propagation and tissue culture laboratory that was lost in a fire so that it can be rebuilt.
With regard to exchanges with SIAH, Mrs Marie said the institute will be looking for technical expertise in different fields in relation to agriculture and horticulture, including assistance in the development of the institute’s future diploma programmes.
The development of an agro-processing unit is another area she said the institute will need support from Thailand.
Ambassador Tangulrat said she will do her utmost for the realisation of cooperation projects with regard to: training of Seychellois laboratory technicians on tissue culture, training of Seychelles National Botanical Gardens Foundation’s staff at Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden in biodiversity conservation and living collection management, exchange of visit between Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden’s Scientific staff and SPGA staff, research on chemical substance of the coco-de-mer, training for Seychellois laboratory technicians for the In Vitro Lab,construction of the Royal Thai pavilion in the National Botanical Garden of Seychelles, MoUs between the Thai higher educational institutions and SIAH, and the development of a new diploma curriculum in Sustainable Agriculture for small states for SIAH.
She noted that some of the assistance will have to be held online due to Covid-19 restrictions in Thailand.
Mr Cedras said that the visit has come at an opportune time for further discussions on strengthening of ties at a time when the authority has changed its name and with a new management in place.
The meeting was followed by the visit to the Thai Garden and Botanical Garden and the planting of the coco-de-mer seedling.
The Thai garden was established in 2013 and opened for the public in 2014.
The accompanying photographs show some highlights of the ambassador’s visit to the Botanical Garden.
Patrick Joubert
Photos: Thomas Meriton
