Greening the shorelines |27 February 2024
AIDA cruise ship staff clean and beautify Anse Royale beach park
The staff of AIDA cruise ship, docked in Port Victoria, came together for a day of environmental action yesterday, combining tree-planting and beach-cleanup efforts.
Armed with shovels, gloves and bags, they planted trees in their designated areas, contributing to the beautification of the Seychelles beaches.
The activity at the new rock armouring site in Anse Royale was organised and coordinated by the Public Education and Community Outreach Division within the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment.
Senior programme development Officer, Terry Mousbe, told Seychelles NATION the activity was initiated after they had a chance to see what goes on aboard the cruise ship.
“A few weeks ago we did some exchanges with the cruise ship to see how environmental activities are conducted on board. It was then suggested that during their next stopover on Mahé they should join us on land for an activity, which led us to today’s event,” explained Mr Mousbe.
He said the Anse Royale beach park was chosen, because it is one of the most eroded beaches. The ‘Takamaka’ and ‘Vouloutye’ trees provided for the exercise have been sponsored by the University of Seychelles and the division has expressed its appreciation for the generous donation.
Altogether 17 ‘Takamaka’ trees and eight ‘Vouloutye’ trees were planted by AIDA staff, as the primary students who were supposed to take part in the exercise were unable to make it due to bad weather.
The human resource manager of the AIDA Blu cruise ship, Mareike Packmor, said they were eager to take part in such an exercise while in Seychelles.
“After we were introduced by the idea we quickly jumped on it, as we just love the idea of contributing to a greater environment,” she said.
Through their collective effort, the AIDA staff demonstrated their dedication to environmental stewardship, leaving a lasting impression of care and responsibility to the Seychelles community.
The AIDA team hope to return to Seychelles one day with their kids and grandkids to share how they played their role in Seychelles’ environment.
The accompanying photos show the AIDA team in action.
Photos by Louis Toussaint
