Given the small population of Seychelles — only 80,000 people — the focal point for CBD and CITES for many years has been one single person, the Director of Conservation. Accordingly, preparation for COPs and SBSTTAs was limited. In order to strengthen Seychelles’s position at COP 7 of the CBD, a small working group of five experts from the government and the non-government sector, including the focal point, was formed. Each expert reviewed a particular working document of the conference and identified relevant issues for Seychelles that needed to be pursued at COP7. Thus, the working document on protected areas was reviewed by the Director for National Parks and Forestry, as well as the Director of Conservation and one of the Directors of the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles. The Botanical Garden reviewed the document on the Global Plant Conservation Strategy. Biodiversity and Tourism was reviewed by the vice chair of the Ecotourism Committee, based at the Ministry of Tourism.
The Seychelles’ position was consolidated within the working group after each expert presented its findings. This process has not only assisted the national focal point in preparing Seychelles’s position, but it also provided a means for involving many of the main stakeholders, updating the stakeholders on new developments, and build capacity.
For more information, contact Didier Dogley, Director General, Nature & Conservation Division didierd21@hotmail.com or Selby Remie, Director of Conservation chm@seychelles.net