Assembly unanimously approve legislation to better protect our endemic animal, plant species |10 July 2021

Members of the National Assembly on Wednesday unanimously approved a piece of legislation that will give better protection to and curb illegal trade activities in our endemic animal and plant species.

The Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, presented the ‘Trade of Wild Fauna and Flora Bill 2021’, which directly concerns curbing commercial activities of plant and animal species under threat of extinction for members’ consideration and approval.

“The Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment has developed the piece of legislation to help Seychelles carry out its obligations as per the convention which regulates international trade activities in plant and animal species better known as Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of wild fauna and flora,” Minister Joubert pointed out.

“As we know Seychelles’ biodiversity is unique and is found only here. It is therefore important to put measures in place to ensure that commercial activities do not affect and threaten their existence,” he told Assembly members.

Seychelles became a member of CITES on February 8, 1977. The Convention has helped to regulate species in trade.

These species are listed under three different annexes based on the level of protection they require:

- Annex 1 concerns highly endangered species under big threat of extinction;

- Annex 2 relates to species that, even though they are endangered, are not necessarily under threat of extinction but there is a need to regulate and curb trade and commercial activities involving them to ensure their sustainability;

- Annex 3 relates to species that are listed by member countries because they are important to them nationally and they need international assistance to help them curtail trade activities in them.

“Seychelles is already trading in certain species that are listed in the convention namely the giant tortoise which features in Annex 2 since 1977 and the coco de mer nut which features in Annex 3 since 2010,” Minister Joubert stressed.

Furthermore he added that there are other species that are not necessarily endemic but are found in Seychelles and these include sharks, ray fish and sea cucumbers among several others.

Minister Joubert noted that there are several other species that are listed under Annex 1 and 2 but in which Seychelles is not doing any trade but just want a form of protection for them in view of the level of interest there is in them.

He further highlighted that there are certain species that feature on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international union for the protection and preservation of nature.

Mr Joubert said all these species are important for the proper function of our ecosystem and he pointed out that under Annex 1, there are altogether 1082 species, under Annex 2 there are 37,420 and under Annex 3 there are 211 species found globally.

He said the annexes are reviewed every three years when member countries meet for discussions.

There are at present 183 countries which are party to the convention and their next meeting has been planned for June 2022.

Minister Joubert pointed out that even if Seychelles has been party to the convention for many years, it has not been able to put in place a domestic piece of legislation to allow for the implementation of our obligations as required under the convention.

“In view that the convention is also legally binding, Seychelles finds itself under Category 3 which is the lowest category under the convention which means we are not honouring our responsibilities to implement the convention in its entirety. But as a member country, we have only put in place administrative measures and procedures which are helping the ministry of environment to maintain some level of control but it is our duty to honour our commitment through this new piece of legislation,” Minister Joubert stated.

He further highlighted that to have in effect this new law will allow Seychelles to receive international assistance including from other members of the convention to help us strengthen the implementation of the convention. It is to be noted that those member countries also act as check points and if there are cases of illegal trade in endangered species from Seychelles they can intercept the people involved in these illegal trade.

The new piece of legislation will also help the environment ministry to put in place legal measures to better protect the different species involved in trade. This includes introducing penalties to deal with illegal activities as well as set up a quota system to regulate commerce.

Minister Joubert informed Assembly members that the process to draft the new Bill started way back in 2016 and has involved a lot of consultation with partners and stakeholders. The ministry concluded work on a first draft of the Bill which was submitted to the Attorney General but unfortunately it was not completed and finalised at that time due to other priorities in the latter’s office.

Last year the ministry returned to the Cabinet to stress the importance of this piece of legislation following which Cabinet gave its green light for the ministry and the Attorney General to finalise the Bill whose draft has also been presented to the secretariat of the convention as well as other key partners.

Minister Joubert noted that the new draft of the Bill provides for legalising administrative procedures that the ministry had already put in place as well as give more protection to the different species.

But as Seychelles does not have a comprehensive legislation that really protects our different plant and animal species, the ministry added provisions to allow for certain specific protection where really necessary.

Calling on Assembly members to recognise the importance of such a piece of legislation, Minister Joubert stressed that the Bill will prevent Seychelles from being used as a place for illegal trade activities and it will assist the concerned authorities to better manage and protect our different plant and animal species.

The few members who intervened welcomed and gave their support to the important piece of legislation noting that it will prevent the exportation and importation of endangered species and protect them for our future generations.

“We have an obligation to leave this world in a better state than we found it,” MNA John Hoareau of Beau Vallon stressed, noting that out there in our different plant and animal species there are many hidden secrets and if studied closely could be found to be hiding solutions to many of our medical problems as many scientists believe.

For his part MNA Waven Woodcock stressed on the importance and for more emphasis to be placed on protecting our different endemic species. He gave examples of what he described as mistakes made in the past where our coco de mer and giant tortoise were exchanged as gifts to other countries who have displayed them and even bred them and today they are making lots of money through these species thus making us not the sole owner of the nut and tortoise, something he stressed should be fully prevented from happening.

Marie-Anne Lepathy