The meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) held from 7 to 11 November 2011 has agreed to initiate work on ecosystem restoration, recognizing that restoration is an essential element of the package of activities that will be required to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-202.
The Plan had been adopted at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention, held last October in Nagoya, Japan.
“This is great news for Nature Seychelles’ various restoration projects, specially reef restoration.” says Nirmal Shah, Nature Seychelles’s CEO. “It validates our approach to solutions for problems which has for many years seemed intractable” he says.
Nature Seychelles through the assistance of Birdlife Intentional and the RSPB and funding through two GEF Medium Size Projects spearheaded island restoration programmmes that not only saved the most threatened birds in Seychelles but also inspired others to do the same. Now, the organization is attempting to restore reefs that have been badly damaged by bleaching. “These are very risky projects, but those who are risk-averse cannot roll out successful conservation” says Shah