REEF RELIEF

AFTER THE WORLD-FIRST BLUE BOND IN 2018, EFFORTS ARE NOW UNDERWAY IN THE ISLAND NATION OF SEYCHELLES TO RESTORE BLEACHED REEFS AND SUSTAIN ITS BLUE ECONOMY.

- by Freddie Hiney

In Seychelles, coral reefs aren't just ecosystems—they're economic lifelines. Now, with climate change bleaching them white, the island nation is betting on science to bring them back to life.

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean, Seychelles is a tourism magnet where nature drives the economy with its global allure. The smallest African country by population size (around 130,000), tourism contributes 16.5% to its GDP—valued at $2.2 billion and projected to reach $2.76 billion by 2030—as per the World Tourism Organization in 2022.

The ocean provides wealth, in myriad ways, to the nation, with fish and marine products making up 90% of its total exports in 2019, the Seychelles Trade Portal notes.

Meanwhile, fisheries add 16% to the GDP and employ approximately 12% of its workforce.

“Seychelles is a reef-dependent nation. It relies on it for food, maintaining coastal barriers, creating the sand for our tourist-attracting beaches, and underpinning diving tourism in the region,” says Dr Nirmal Shah, CEO of conservation-driven NGO, Nature Seychelles, to FORBES AFRICA.