Eco-Tourism in the Seychelles by Caroline Major

The notion of a country built on a string of islands is romantic. In its essence, romance is drama and staking 115 islands and calling it one country is dramatic. One must only imagine the drama involved in administrating such a disparate realm. Add outstanding natural beauty to the equation and the development of The Seychelles as a honeymoon destination whose marketeers sell wonderful white sand beaches fringed with palms and surrounded by turquoise seas, and the romantic story is complete. Over-excited writers often use the P word to describe this stunning island country, but not me. Gorgeous, yes; stunning; absolutely. Awesome; resolutely but paradise? No.

Cue a scene of verdant tropical vegetation, emerald lushness, juicy with its succulent ability to attract and retain moisture. There’s powdery white sands so soft and talcy that a beach walk won’t exfoliate your feet - plus large curvaceous boulders and an ocean in shades of turquoise and indigo. This is home to a diverse population of melodious birds and fragrant frangipanis in burgundy and pink. All this is topped by a consistent equatorial climate which is the basis of some of the finest bare-footed luxury in the world.

The Seychellois themselves are an exotic mix of Indian, African, French, Portuguese and Arab, thrown together in one of the worlds’ happy stories of racial integration. It probably works because The Seychelles were uninhabited before the Europeans established a trading port there. Without an indigenous population, the Seychellois have become versatile; practicing all trades and mastering none, which perhaps goes some way to explain the sorry state of The Seychelles economy. What they seem to lack is the commercial nouse and will to deliver on the promise of the slick marketing churned out by the Seychelles Tourism Marketing Board in their ‘As Pure As It Gets’ message.

Centuries ago, the French used the Seychelles climate and rich soils to grow premium quality spices, native rubber and harvested coconut, but now they don’t grow anything much at all. These crops are more competitively produced in other countries and the Seychelles now rely heavily on imports from France and South Africa for almost everything but the fish they subsist on and which pays for their imports. Their only other revenue is from tourism. The people enjoy a relaxed lifestyle, encapsulated perfectly by Elza Richards, a local Nature Tour Guide and Researcher at Bird Island Resort, when I ask why she likes working on an island. “Because you don’t have to get up to rush and to go get the bus and to wait hours. Here there is no pressure.”

Elza learnt her trade from her predecessor; “There was a lady here and I learnt it from her. She was here for five years. We all work for the island, there is no problem among the staff. So you very safe here.” Elza also doubles as pastry chef at which she excels in a bush-cook kind of way.

Tourism to the Seychelles started in 1972, with South African investment and clientele, until the Tanzanian backed military coup in 1976. South Africa pulled out, and subsequently invested in Mauritius. The new government declared that they needed to liberate the Seychellois from their colonial past. Privately held islands were taken over and managed by the Island Development Company, seized from both foreign and Seychellois owners. Most of these had airstrips and buildings which now lie rotting in the sun. The foreign owners were expelled for having taken Seychellois jobs. Twenty five years on, there are more foreign experts working here than ever before.

George, a native, left by boat to Australia to find work during this uncomfortable period but returned when his father died. Mahe had built an airport, so he flew back in and got a job at the new Reef Hotel. The government was recruiting hotel managers to kick-start tourism. George was the first Seychellois to get a management position in his own country. One year later, he got the job in a government run a school to train Seychellois for the operational side of running hotels, but not management.

On a day trip to Bird Island and with no knowledge of the outer islands, George was bitten by the environmental bug when he saw the bird colony there. At the time, there were just 18,000 pairs of Sooty Terns. Agricultural cultivation of the island had severely depleted their numbers and damaged the environement. He went on to open the first environmental tourism destination in the country, The Bird Island Resort, now home to over a million pairs of tagged Terns.

“It was such an obvious thing to do. The bird colony needed protecting and nurturing. It was almost dictated to you by the type of clientele who came to the environment. They were saying. ‘What wonderful birds and turtles. You must make sure they are protected.’”

“We were very conscious, because previous to 1975, nature didn’t really have much value. As a young boy on Mahe I used to take my catapualt up the mountains and kill birds. Like all the other boys. I ate turtle meat because it was part of our diet. The minute we were exposed to the broader world, we realised that it needed protection. That was what we had to sell to our clientele.”

And although the Seychelles sells itself as a pure environmental paradise, birds eggs, a delicacy, are still exploited. On one island, the eggs (which are great for making cakes, although the cakes turn out a bit orange) are cropped commercially - they have a fabulous taste and a salmon pink yolk. You find them at a certain time of year on Mahe. Green turtles are apparently also good tasting and poachers still kill Hawkesbills for their shells, although they are rumored to be poisoned.

When probed about the environmental approaches of some of the other islands, George is sullen. He believes that other islands have just switched their focus, but are still exploiting their island homes. Instead of destroying the islands with commercial cropping and the exploitation of natural resources, they are now exploiting the same resources for tourism. He says they still don’t invest enough in sustainable environmental practice. Says George, “Cousine and Arid are doing serious programmes but Fregate has I think gone a bit wild.”

When questioned about the award winning Marketing of The Seychelles, George complains, “They misrepresent us, as we are the cheapest island in the country, and we attract a certain type of clientele, who are mostly repeat customers, who are very interested in the environment. They market The Seychelles as a luxury destination even though the country does not have the facilities to cater to the expectations of these very rich people when they get here.”

“We’re very rarely consulted on these issues (formation of campaigns). They tend to go to places like Cousine and Arid which are official nature reserves. Whereas we are a private nature reserve and that is not looked at well in this environment.”

Meanwhile over at Fregate, South African Seychellois, Mr Hill who moved his family to the Seychelles for historic family ties tells a more optimistic story. ‘90% of the wealthy guests (who are the target market), are the people who are interested in having an environmental experience, and we will cater to that.’

To do that, Fregate has a very active farm, growing a wide variety of staples for their kitchens as well as many of the flowers for the rooms. ‘95% of the fresh produce that is consumed in the Seychelles is flown in from just three places abroad.’ The set-up on the island, in the rich volcanic soils is hydroponic allowing constant cultivation, but Hills mandate is much more wide reaching. Like the others, they are managing the entire eco-system of their island.

At North Island, young career environmentalist Jon Duncan is infectiously enthusiastic.

“At a national level the government is currently revising their marine park structure. North Island does a twice yearly monitoring dive and is trying to develop a marine park – doing a joint partnership with the government where the government polices it and North Island fund and maintains it. It’s our aim to make the dives an underwater safari.”

Additionally, “North Island wants to tap into research initiatives in The Seychelles and work with the government on maintaining biodiversity. At North, this is about encouraging bird life back to the island by eliminating introduced predators and bringing back endemic species. Two years ago, North Island was 60% covered with alien species."

“At the end, a lot of tourists don’t want to talk politics, but just to enjoy a pristine environment. Having said that, you can hear about the Kyoto accords but not know what it means for your holiday. We also want to be able to help the public participate in that, and hear them say ‘wow’.”

“I’ve had a client, a man at the high end of his career who’d never had to deal with environmental issues in the past, but because of business moving the way it is, people suddenly have to deal with Kyoto accords and ISO standards. After hot debate about hard coral and global emissions he could suddenly see the impact of his actions. It suddenly hit home and maybe he’ll take something away from that experience and do something about it.”

"At North, we’re using the green globe initiative framework in which are trying to build our environment initiatives, but we are loathe to label ourselves green because that is a label just like any other. Along that route, the word ecotourism has become a little bit hollow. We are nervous to use that term because we don’t want to be associated with that. When people stay here the cherry on top is that they get to experience our environmental philosophy. We want to say buy us because we are a unique, amazing product, and you’ll get an amazing experience. We didn’t want to put a big green stamp on it, and join the current trend.”

"The least environmentally friendly is energy consumption. We have people who come here who first class it around the planet. First class to New York, Hong Kong, they limousine it, air-conditioned all the way. They come here, they take their shoes off, and say wow. Some of our guests say they can’t remember the last time they had a swim."

So it seems that the resorts taking the “Pure As It Get’s" Campaign most seriously are those with the most to gain. Those who can sell an environmental paradise and have the investment to do so.

But Guy Leroache who runs the Chateau Bleu, Mahes’ cheapest accommodation, from his plantation style home, has a different opinion. "The Seychelles should be for everyone. Just two weeks ago, I had an Italian couple who stayed with me. They camped on La Digue and went hiking here on Mahe. They brought home so much fruit. Bananas and Papayas that they picked on their walk. They were students and spent little money"

The Seychelles, it seems, is at a crossroads.

Looking for the exotic stay of a lifetime? Check out our collection of luxury hotels in the Seychelles. Or, for a selection of the most luxurious eco-friendly places to stay, see Jill Starley-Grainger's pick of the world's best luxury eco-hotels.