The bi-yearly environmental magazine Zwazo produced by Nature Seychelles and covering the period July to December 2005 has been released. A public service is offered through free copies to key
sections of society. Members, wildlife clubs, government agencies, private companies, NGOs, libraries and international and regional organisations have already received copies of this colourful and information-packed publication.
The theme chosen for this issue of Zwazo is marine conservation, reflecting the exciting developments, projects and research activities going on in this area. Articles from a number of local and international contributors in this field are featured, including Louisa Wood from the University of British Columbia in Canada, who has been working with Nature Seychelles and the Marine Parks Authority (MPA) on a research project investigating attitudes within the fishing community to poaching in Marine Protected Areas.
There are also articles on new approaches to marine monitoring by Jan Robinson of the Seychelles Fishing Authority and results from coral reef surveys by the University of Newcastle in collaboration with the MPA, Nature Seychelles since the impacts of sea warming and coral bleaching were first felt back in 1998.
There is a feature from the Regional Tuna Tagging Project describing the challenge of catching, tagging and releasing 80,000 tuna in the Indian Ocean over the next few years. The aim of the program is to build a picture of the status of tuna stocks, to help ensure sustainable management into the future. Another article by the WWF describes the global efforts to stop the bycatch of turtles by tuna long liners through the introduction of circle hooks.
Regular features include three pages on what’s been happening on Cousin Island Special Reserve, with reports from the last six months, contributions from visiting wardens, visitor comments, profiles of staff and interesting observations on the world of wildlife. Readers can also read about the tremendous conservation work on other Seychelles islands such as Fregate, Cousine, Bird and Aride.
Elsewhere in the magazine there are the regular reports from the Seychelles Magpie-robin Recovery Team (SMART) and the Seychelles Seabird Group. There is also information on the latest developments in the World Bank/Global Environment Facility funded islands initiative. An important section supports the work of the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles and gives prominence to the events and activities of this volunteer-based, non-governmental organization that works in very close collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
It all adds up to 36 exciting colour pages of news and views on the environment in Seychelles and the region. Nature Seychelles has been regularly producing Zwazo since its creation in 1998 and distributing most copies free to local and international organisations. The magazine has received many rave reviews and favorable comments from local as well as international readers. It is printed by the well-known T-Printers in Mauritius and donations and advertisers notably Tropic Car, Fregate Island and Hunt Deltel support the costs. We welcome ideas and contributions for the next issue – email us at nature@seychelles.net