Civil society in Seychelles is being invited to propose projects that will help strengthen coastal resilience in the South-West Indian Ocean.

An expert from the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Adele De Toma, told SNA on Wednesday that the call for proposals is being made through the Resilience Of Indian Ocean Coastal Zones (RECOS) project.

"The overall objective of the RECOS project is to strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems in the western Indian Ocean countries, under which there are two more objectives to support the implementation of the coastal management approach and also to implement innovative projects the restoration and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystems," said De Toma.

The call for proposal is to support demonstrative field actions aimed at fostering the restoration, the management and the sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems.

This is an Indian Ocean Commission initiative that is supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Fonds Français pour l'Environnement (FFEM), and the deadline for submission of concept notes is December 4.

The project is structured around four main components, strengthening the management of marine and coastal ecosystems at regional and national levels and exchanging experiences, the regional scientific cooperation on coastal ecosystems and implementation of pilot projects to restore coastal ecosystems and support sustainable ecosystems, communication, awareness-raising, and capitalisation and project management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation.

"Only the civil society, such as NGOs, the private sector and local authorities, such as the districts, are eligible for the call for proposal," explained De Toma.

She added that proposals can be about anything related to marine protected area management and also marine ecosystem conservation and management, as well coastal area management.

Five proposals will be selected, with grants for the projects being between €50,000 to €150,000, with the beneficiaries required to make a 5 percent minimum contribution.

Interested applicants can apply through the website, www.commissionoceanindien.org/appel-a-projets-recos/ .  

The RECOS project has also launched the "Exchange of Experiences Programme" where NGOs and others can collaborate on numerous projects and be able to visit each other as part of the exchange.

Exchanges are carried out at the request of stakeholders and implemented on a voluntary and partnership basis.