Partnership between the H Resort and MCSS delivers new ‘creepy crawly’ lab experience for guests and schools |23 September 2019

Hotel guests and local school children are enjoying a new ‘creepy crawly’ lab, which is an interactive learning experience offered by the H Resort Beau Vallon Beach Seychelles and the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS).

The Creepy Crawly lab – which was launched in June this year – aims to showcase some of Seychelles’ invertebrates (creepy crawlies) through a field and laboratory-based discovery programme as part of the H Resort’s Kids’ Club for hotel guests.

The activity is hosted within the hotel grounds and is run by MCSS staff members on behalf of the resort.

Children can explore the hotel grounds, take soil and water samples from the surrounding wetland and lagoon, and using a range of microscopes at the Kids’ Club, discover the microscopic world of creepy crawlies that live all around them.

The lab is an educational activity that aims to introduce children to the importance of wetland ecosystems, the species that can be found, as well as the dynamics and inter/intra-species relations that can take place within these habitats.

Children are also educated on several scientific methods and techniques, such as sample collection (i.e. collecting insects and plants from the wetland), how to prepare a sample, as well as sample analysis (i.e. how to correctly use a microscope, magnifying glass and other lab equipment).

The MCSS team has delivered the activity at the resort ten times so far, which includes the recent visit of eighteen children from the Green Generation Holiday Club.

MCSS partnered with the H Resort in March of this year and have since introduced a number of conservation and educational programmes, including: wetland tours around the resort’s wetland and grounds, guided snorkelling tours and a coral reef restoration programme.

Commenting on the partnership, the chairman of MCSS, Dr David Rowat, said:

“Our partnership with the H Resort is a very dynamic one. The H Resort has a very strong conservation and sustainability ethic, which it is keen to put into practice and which we are happy to assist it with.”

Johannes Steyn, general manager of the H Resort, said:

“Our partnership with MCSS is an important one and it is very much aligned with our commitment to conservation and the development of the youth in the Seychelles.”

Creepy crawlies are a much-maligned group of animals. The Seychelles possesses an abundant supply of such creatures; some of which are rare and endemic, and most of which are actually harmless, despite their somewhat scary appearance. The Creepy Crawly lab activity runs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon at the resort.

MCSS is a Seychelles-registered non-governmental organisation which promotes the conservation of marine and terrestrial environments through education, research and the implementation of a number of programmes. Current activities include long-running monitoring programmes on turtles and terrapins, coral restoration as well as several grant-funded projects and a number of stewardship conservation programmes with tourism sector partners.

Photo source: MCSS