Inauguration of the Marine Educational Area in the Curieuse Marine Park
and visit of the S.A. Agulhas II during her stopover in Mahé in the frame of the "Indian Ocean Expedition" of the Explorations de Monaco
October 28th 2022
Curieuse Educational Marine Area, Seychelles
As part of the Pareo project, "the reef heritage of the Indian Ocean in our hands", a Marine Educational Area was inaugurated on October 28, 2022 in Curieuse Island National Park, Praslin, Seychelles with the children of Baie Ste-Anne School.
A Marine Educational Area is an area within a protected marine area whose management is unofficially entrusted to the children. They have to establish an inventory of the threats to the reef and propose a conservation measure at their scale and discuss it with local users and decision makers. This concept allows the children to understand the stakes of protection and to discover the different jobs related to the sea.
This AME is supported by the Monaco Explorations (EDM) and implemented by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) in the framework of DIDEM, in partnership with the Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority and the Seychelles Ministry of Education.
It was inaugurated by Francis Marsac, representing the EDM, Pascale Chabanet, IRD coordinator for the project and Anto Suzette, manager of the Curieuse National Marine Park, in the presence of representatives of the Baie Ste Anne district, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Education, the Director of the Baie Ste Anne school, the project manager of the environmental education activities and the parents of the students.
The project continues in 2023 thanks to European funding (Feder INTERREG V co-financed by Europe, the State and the Reunion Region). New students as well as those from last year will meet to continue to develop their conservation project and to question local decision makers.
Inauguration of the Curieuse Marine Educational Area, Seychelles
Children present their class project at the inauguration of the Marine Education Area
Inauguration of the Curieuse Marine Educational Area, Seychelles
Children present their class project at the inauguration of the Marine Education Area
Inauguration of the Marine Educational Area
Children present their class project at the inauguration of the Marine Education Area
Inauguration of the Marine Educational Area
Children present their class project at the inauguration of the Marine Education Area
Relay of the event in the local TV news
Visit of the ship S.A. Agulhas II, during a stopover of the oceanographic campaign Indian Ocean Expedition of the Explorations de Monaco
Following the inauguration day, the children and their parents were invited on board the oceanographic research vessel S.A. Agulhas II anchored in Victoria for a few days. Crew members accompanied them on a guided tour of the ship, and then gifts were given to them by Explorations de Monaco for the work done in the project. They then met with the two artists on board to record their stories and practice a new illustration technique. The children and their parents were delighted with the inauguration and the visit on board the oceanographic ship.
On board the S.A. Agulhas II, Didier Theron (EDM) welcomes the children of the PAREO project and their parents @M. Brioche and L. Alissop_Monaco Explorations
On board the S.A. Agulhas II, children visit the control room @M. Brioche and L. Alissop_Monaco Explorations
The concept of the Educational Marine Area was born in 2012 in the Marquesas Islands. It consists, for students and their teacher, to manage in a participatory way a small coastal marine area. This educational and eco-citizen approach aims to raise awareness among the young public about the protection of the marine environment but also to discover its actors. It is the first time that an educational marine area is implemented in the Seychelles. The objective of this project, initiated in 2021, is to lead to conservation actions based on solutions envisaged and implemented by the children themselves in order to create links between science and society. During the last months, the students' activities have been supervised by Lola Massé (Pareo-IRD Project Manager) and Maria Brioche in the framework of the Pareo clubs.