Skip to main content
Home

GEF Logo

GEF Logo

GEF Logo

Search
  • Who We Are

    Organization

    • Overview
    • CEO and Chairperson
    • Focal Points
    • Secretariat Staff

    GEF Council

    • Members & Alternates
    • Work Programs
    • Meetings
    • Decisions

    Funding

    • Overview
    • GEF-9
    • GEF-8
    • GEF-7
    • Replenishment Documents
    • Overview
    • CEO and Chairperson
    • Focal Points
    • Secretariat Staff
  • What We Do

    Topics

    Topics

    • Amazon
    • Biodiversity
    • Blended Finance
    • Chemicals and Waste
    • Food Security
    • Forests
    • Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
    • Illegal Wildlife Trade
    • Integrated Programs
    • International Waters
    • Land Degradation
    • LDCF
    • Mercury
    • SCCF
    • Sustainable Cities
    • Transparency
    • View All Topics >>

    Stakeholder Engagement

    Stakeholder Engagement

    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Country Engagement Strategy
    • Fonseca Leadership Program
    • GEF Voices
    • Indigenous Peoples
    • Knowledge & Learning
    • Private Sector
    • Youth
  • Projects & Operations

    Projects

    Projects

    • Project Database
    • Templates
    • How Projects Work

    Countries

    Countries

    • Recipient Countries
    • Donor Countries
    • Participant Countries
    • Country Support Program

    Operations

    Operations

    • Conflict Resolution Commissioner
    • GEF Geospatial Platform
    • Knowledge & Learning
    • Policies and Guidelines
    • Results
  • Partners

    Partners

    • Countries
    • GEF Agencies
    • Conventions
    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Private Sector
    • Countries
    • GEF Agencies
    • Conventions
    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Private Sector
  • Newsroom

    Newsroom Menu Column 1

    • All
    • News
    • Feature Stories
    • Press Releases
    • Multimedia
    • Publications
    • Blog

    Newsroom Menu Column 2

    • GEF Logo
    • Partner News
    • Newsletter
    • Media Contacts
    • All
    • News
    • Feature Stories
    • Press Releases
    • Multimedia
    • Publications
    • Blog
  • Events
  • Search

Paradise Found: Fuelling the Blue Economy of the Seychelles by innovating Protected Area Finance

Feature Story
June 4, 2017
Paradise Found template.png
Paradise Found template.png

Biodiversity is a key driver of economic development in the Seychelles. In 2016 alone, the country hosted 327,000 international tourists and the number of visitors has been increasing by 10 percent each year. Over 40 percent of these tourists visit the spectacular terrestrial and marine protected areas that the Seychelles has as key tourism attractions.

Meeting the ambitious targets that the country has set for marine protection will come at a high financial cost, and, although the Seychelles hosts some of the world’s most high-end tourism destinations, it is a developing country. A new Protected Areas Financing Project, supported by UNDP and GEF, has taken up the challenge of addressing sustainable financing for protected areas, and is examining how financial flows and mechanisms can be applied system-wide. Private sector engagement is critical in this process: remote island resorts have the resources to contribute considerable sums to Island Trust Funds, and, thus, to conservation action. Other innovative mechanisms are also being developed, such as the cross-financing scheme through which revenue generated by the heavily-visited Vallée de Mai site in the inner islands, is used to meet the costs of managing the remote Aldabra Word Heritage Site.

Through the Protected Areas Financing Project, the Seychelles National Parks Authority, in partnership with local businesses and island owners, is systematically revitalising its tourism products, enhancing what is already a world-class experience, and encouraging visitors to spend more time (and money!) in the parks. Reorganization of the governance structure is also underway to ensure that increased funding streams are reinvested in the management of protected areas.

These approaches to financing protected areas, which are the engine that drives the ‘blue economy’ of the Seychelles, are being bolstered by other innovative approaches such as building up the Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust Fund (initiated through the 2015 Debt-for-Adaptation Swap), systematic management planning, engagement of fishing fleets, and satellite-based surveillance, amongst other issues. Financing the expansion of the protected area system to accommodate 400,000 km2 of land and ocean territory is a journey of discovery for the Seychelles – one that relies on strong partnerships and active engagement among government, the private sector and communities.

Topics

Biodiversity
International Waters
Marine
Sustaining Biodiversity in Landscapes and Seascapes

Countries

Seychelles
Related Content

Sea, My Life: Protecting Oceans, Sustaining our Future

Publication / June 4, 2017
View All News

Related News

Lewis Pugh swimming in the waters around Martha's Vineyard
News

On 50th anniversary of 'Jaws,' Lewis Pugh to swim around Martha's Vineyard in 12-day challenge to change story on sharks

May 15, 2025
Elephant crossing a stream in a jungle
News

Biodiversity Fund's Advisory Group and Auxiliary Body meet in advance of Council

May 14, 2025
Woman on a moving boat
Feature Story

Working to conserve the Sargasso Sea

May 12, 2025

GEF Logo

Follow Us

GEF Affiliated Sites

  • GEF Portal
  • Independent Evaluation Office
  • Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel
  • Small Grants Programme

Who We Are

  • GEF Secretariat Staff
  • Conflict Resolution Commissioner
  • Council Members & Alternates
  • Focal Points
  • Careers
  • Legal
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Global Environment Facility, All Rights Reserved.  |   Legal