Unique conservation deal creates massive new marine parks in the Seychelles

The Seychelles has announced it has established vast new marine protected areas the size of Great Britain.

81,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean have been given over to conservation in an innovative finance deal.

The Seychelles Government swapped $22 million of its sovereign debt into an investment to protect the huge area from illegal fishing, energy developments, and the damaging impacts of climate change.

The deal was designed by US-based The Nature Conservancy and funded by donations, including $1 million from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. It is understood to be the first such debt conversion to specifically protect marine wildlife. A portion of its debt repayments will now finance the marine protection projects, via a new government-run trust.

“This effort will help the people of Seychelles protect their ocean for future generations, and will serve as a model for future marine conservation projects worldwide," said Leonardo DiCaprio, Chairman of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. 

"These protections mean that all species living in these waters or migrating through them are now far better shielded from overfishing, pollution, and climate change.” 

99 percent of the island nation’s territory is made up of ocean, but only 0.04 percent is currently protected. The unique deal will mean that close to 30 percent of the country’s marine areas will now be safeguarded within a few years with strict conditions to protect the ecosystem; only scientific research and closely limited tourism will be allowed in some areas.

Seychelles’ President Danny Faure of Seychelles, commented on the news after it was announced at an event on Wednesday:

"Our approach is ambitious. It is about a paradigm shift on how we manage and use our coastal and ocean resources, how we work together as a government and as communities. By planning properly to protect our environment, we can be sure we are also protecting our people and their livelihoods against an uncertain future”

The areas now under strict conservation include endangered animals, such as the dugong; sea turtles; 10,000 giant tortoises, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, said he hoped the project could be replicated in other fragile areas of the world’s oceans: "This is a critical accomplishment in our mission to bring conservation to scale across the globe; what you see today in Seychelles is what we expect to introduce in the Caribbean and other ocean regions facing the threats of climate change"