Outer Islands Coral Collection Facility

Duration: Feb 2019 (facility operational)

Description: One of the outputs under the national UNDP/GoS/GEF-funded Outer Islands project was to develop a coral collection facility. The objective of the facility was to provide the foundation for training and raising awareness on coral species identification and taxonomy. This is intended to support:

1. University level training (diploma, bachelors, masters and research),
2. Professional development in national organizations and institutions mandated with coral and reef protection (IDC, customs, SNPA, IDC, ICS, other NGOs),
3. Private and civil society groups engaged in tourism (dive operators, guides, etc), and
4. Public and schools-oriented programmes.

The University of Seychelles, as a key partner in this project, was selected to establish this coral collection facility at the Anse Royale campus. Several items of equipment were purchased and currently the facility is housed within the University Centre for Environmental Education (UCEE) at the Anse Royale Campus. There is an intention that if further funds can be secured in the future that the facility will be expanded and housed separately from the UCEE at the campus.

In line with establishing the facility, a workshop was held at the UCEE from February 26^th-28^th 2019 to provide foundation training in practical hard-coral sampling, processing, identification and the curating of a reference collection for key stakeholders from NGO’s, parastatals, University staff and students, and governmental departments. 

Funding body: GEF5

Partners: GOS-UNDP-GEF, Island Conservation Society (ICS), University of Milano – Bicocca, Italy