LEAP inspires Seychellois students to dive into marine ecosystems
Students from two local educational institutions recently explored marine ecosystems, including the ocean, seagrass, and mangroves, with Nature Seychelles' Locally Empowered Area Protection (LEAP) project based at Cap Ternay.
22 pre-service early childhood and primary diploma students from the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education participated
In August, the LEAP team organized a marine environment exploration session for 22 pre-service early childhood and primary diploma students from the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE). It was designed to provide students with a deeper understanding of marine environments and how to execute fieldwork or field trips.
Ms Lyndinna Essack, Senior Officer - Education for Sustainable Development Section, Ministry of Education, praised the session, stating, “Our students interact with the environment very often. However, today’s experience has been different for them because they now see the large number of things to learn from nature. They now need to think about how to create this learning experience for younger learners.”
The field trip began with a presentation and snorkelling session at Port Launay Beach, where students explored coral reefs and seagrasses. This was followed by an exploration of mangroves at Baie Ternay, Anse Souillac, and Port Launay where they discovered Seychelles' seven mangrove species and their crucial role in the ecosystem.
Snorkelling provided a closer look at the marine environment
Laurraine Gendron, one of the students, found the visit eye-opening and expressed her intention to bring her future students on a similar field trip, as it aligns with the school curriculum.
The snorkelling session provided a closer look at the marine environment, with Angelique Quatre highlighting her newfound ability to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy coral reefs.
"The first one was covered in algae and the team explained that it means the coral is not doing well and could die soon. We saw a larger coral reef further ahead that was doing so much better than the previous one,” she says, adding that she was thrilled to witness a thriving coral reef teeming with colourful fish.
According to Issa Nibourette, the trip was fun and interesting, and it illuminated the importance of these three blue ecosystems. “It has given me ample information to educate people on how critical they are and how we should help keep them from dying,” she states.
Students aged 7 to 16 learnt about mangroves
In September, LEAP organized a mangrove session for students from Mont Fleuri Secondary's eco-school club participating in an eco-camp at Port Glaud Primary School. Students aged 7 to 16 learnt about various mangrove species, their characteristics, their ecological significance and threats they face.
At the Port Glaud mangrove boardwalk, students identified different species of mangrove based on their root systems, flowers, and fruit shapes.
Mangrove sessions explanation
Mont Fleuri's eco-school coordinator, Sandrine Valentin, stressed the importance of such sessions for students living further from the sea and mangrove sites in Mahe such as those in her school. She lauded the team’s passionate interaction with students.
“After the talk and the visit, I remember clearly one saying, ‘Hey! mon konnen ki manyer pou identifye mangliyer aprezan,” she concludes.
Nature Seychelles’ LEAP project aims to increase local awareness of marine and coastal habitats. It also encourages positive attitudes towards the environment and natural resource protection.
