Time capsule placed on Moyenne Island |25 July 2022

Seychelles pledges wise use

of oceans and their resources

By Marla Simeon

Seychelles has pledged its commitment to ensure that our oceans, seas and marine resources are utilised sustainably to secure the livelihood of our future generations.

The pledge was signed and placed in a time capsule that will be on display and encased in a protective layer at the Moyenne Island cemetery near a small chapel.

It will be opened in 2030.

This ceremony organised by the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy and the Ile Moyenne Island Foundation, took place on the island on Saturday and formed part of activities to commemorate the African Day of Seas and Oceans declared by the African Union.

It was President Wavel Ramkalawan, the blue economy champion of the African Union and patron of the Ocean decade Alliance who signed and placed the pledge in the ‘bottle’ alongside Alison Hoareau a youth from the Blue Economy youth group.

The pledge is to “bring together all the energy and commitment of the people of Seychelles to ensure that our oceans, seas and marine resources are utilised sustainably to secure the livelihood of our future generations”.

The ‘bottle’ was designed by artists Joachim Hoareau and Allen Camille and it symbolises the many items that are often wrongly discarded. It pushes out a strong message on the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling.

President Ramkalawan noted that the work being done in the blue economy, protection of the mangroves, sea grass and all the various species, Moyenne Island is here as an example.

Also launched on Moyenne is an app for Moyenne Island whereby visitors can view information on the island. The app was launched by President Ramkalawan and Anuj Sharma, the developer of the app. The app is available on both IOS and Apple store.

Present for the pledge and launch of the app were the Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Jean-François Ferrari; the chairperson of the Moyenne Island Foundation, Suketu Patel; board members of the Moyenne Island Foundation and staff of the department of the Blue Economy.

During the ceremony the Moyenne Island Foundation gifted President Ramkalawan and Minister Ferrari with two signed copies of the book ‘Another grain of sand’ by Brendan Grimshaw, the late owner of Moyenne Island.

Gabriella Gonthier, monitoring and evaluation officer at the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy and Miss Universe Seychelles, stated that Moyenne was chosen to host the time capsule for several reasons. One that it is the smallest marine national park in the world, and secondly because of its benefits in terms of the economy, tourism amd environment.

She added that there is also a social benefit which is an attained experience of what Seychelles has to offer.

She further stressed that the time capsule was placed in the spot near the cemetery because it is a site popular with visitors to the island.

The president and his entourage were then guided on a tour of the island.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the ceremony on Saturday on Moyenne Island.

Marla Simeon

Photos by Louis Toussaint