Nature Seychelles - environmental conservation organisation

Tuesday, 27 February 2007 07:41

Members of the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles (WCS) were celebrating last week after receiving Commonwealth recognition for a project to increase knowledge on the use of traditional plants.

The African Regional Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Valencia Mogegeh and the Minister for Youth and Community Development Vincent Meriton, visited the youth ngo’s headquarters at the Centre for Environment and Education – which they share with partner ngo, Nature Seychelles at the Sanctuary, Roche Caiman – where the awards and praise were passed on to the Wildlife Club members.
“People say that young people are the future, that they are the future leaders. A leader is groomed from a young age and I believe that this project is an opportunity for young people to take the lead in conservation,” said Mrs Mogegeh, before she and the minister handed over certificates and medals to the young schools’ representatives.
The CYP award comes for work done by the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles on the “Heritage Gardens” project, which has seen gardens containing medicinal and traditionally grown plants, cultivated in 15 schools across Seychelles.
“There are not many projects of this kind. It makes a very peculiar contribution to conservation and education to conserve nature, so it came as no surprise that it won an award,” said Mrs Mogegeh.
On his first visit to the Centre for Environment and Education, Minister Meriton thanked the Commonwealth representatives for giving the award to the Wildlife Clubs, which he said, “has allowed our schoolchildren and volunteers in conservation to show the energy they put into conservation.”
And he also thanked the ngo’s for helping lead conservation efforts.
“My thanks to the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles and Nature Seychelles for steering this movement and instilling in people the need to protect the environment.”
He asked the young award winners to, “ensure that your peers follow in your footsteps. The ministry, government, ngos and all of society is here to support you.”
The heritage gardens project was started in 2004, with the support of the Department of Natural Resources, which facilitated a three day workshop to train Wildlife Club leaders on how to plant and maintain the school’s garden.
The Commonwealth representatives were shown around the Environment and Education Centre’s Heritage Garden by some of the Wildlife Club Members, who showed off the knowledge they have gained through the garden project.
“The students were very impressive and showed how much they had learnt. We’re delighted to receive this recognition from the Commonwealth, but even more important is to see the positive impact the Heritage Gardens have had on the members of the Wildlife Clubs and the other school students who have been involved in them,” said Wildlife Clubs Coordinator, Lyndy Bastienne.
After handing out the awards Mrs Mogegeh accompanied the club members and leaders to Plaisance Secondary School where they planted a tree in the school’s Heritage Garden.

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