The mountains on Praslin, Seychelles' second most populated island, have been left with many scars after forest fires and erosion over the years and one nature conservation organsation has worked to restore the natural environment for the past 15 years.

Dr Victorin Laboudallon told SNA that this is why the Terrestrial Restoration Action Society of Seychelles (TRASS) was created in 2009 and his vision was to rehabilitate and restore the affected areas' natural habitat.

Laboudallon, a well-known Seychellois conservationist, was presented with his Honorary Doctorate Award for his outstanding contribution to the country in 2019.

With the help of the community, partners and authorities, the non-governmental organisation has celebrated many accomplishments across the past decade and this includes rehabilitating 100 hectares of land, especially in the water catchments and eroded areas.

TRASS after 15 years

TRASS is celebrating its 15 years of existence, tracing the achievements of the help of so many volunteers and members, which led the team to done wonders to restore the greenery and wetlands on Praslin.

Areas considered as government properties have been rehabilitated by the relevant authorities but this is not the case for privately-owned properties for several reasons, which includes financial costs. This is where TRASS comes in.

Rehabilitation projects were done on several mountains and water catchment areas including at the Anse Possession mountainside, La Pointe Chevalier and Newcome, among others.

With the help of so many volunteers and members,  TRASS has done wonders to restore the greenery and wetlands on Praslin. (TRASS) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

Seeing the devotion, determination and effort of Laboudallon and his small team at that time, many people volunteered to lend a hand in helping to preserve the natural beauty of Praslin by planting trees in many affected areas.

TRASS' vice chairperson, Marc Jean-Baptiste, told SNA, "We are satisfied with all that we have accomplished during the past 15 years of our existence from managing to secure an area where we use as our base and we have our nurseries there as well. We have also been able to rehabilitate several areas after the fires, restored water catchment areas and we have managed to rally quite a large group of volunteers as well."

He added that people believe in our work and with their help, TRASS has completed many projects.

TRASS at work

TRASS says it is fully committed to its restoration and rehabilitation works and it is continuously finding new ways to achieve its goals. The organisation is working on an ongoing project right now using the Ridge-to-Reef Approach for Integrated Management of Marine, Coastal and Terrestrial Ecosystems in Seychelles.

Jean-Baptiste noted that it simply means that anything that happens on the ridge impacts the reef.

"The main aim is to restore the water catchments areas and rehabilitate certain areas which have been degraded, affected by fires and we also remove invasive plants and we replace them with native and non-invasive plant species, aimed at re-creating these ecosystems," he explained.

A new nursery focusing on agroforestry was opened this year under this project and TRASS received funding for the expansion of the existing plant propagation facilities through the construction of this second nursery.

Jean-Baptiste added that this will help to complement what the farmers already have and preserve and conserve the plants on the brink of extinction.

TRASS has also undertaken some work in wetlands on Praslin. The mangrove root systems act as filters for pollutants and other elements from the water, improving the water quality flowing from rivers and streams into the ocean.

"So we restore wetlands by planting mangrove trees so that we can have a good filter system to improve the water quality that flows onto our reefs," he explained.

Funding of projects can sometimes be a constraint for TRASS, so they seek assistance by writing projects and members pay a fee every month.

"We have two working seasons, in the wet season, we start planting on the mountains just after the first rain, the last tree planting will be around April or maybe May, but after that we work in the nurseries and if need be we do coastal work as well, mainly in the wetlands," Jean-Baptiste said.

TRASS says it is fully committed to its restoration and rehabilitation work. (TRASS) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

TRASS gets a lot of support from the local community, from people who believe in their work, those who see the determination and courage of the devoted members and volunteers, and many sponsors.

It is committed to continuing working in close collaboration with private landowners, the government, the private sector and other relevant non-governmental organisations to ensure the restoration and rehabilitation of affected and degraded areas.

The NGO also has nurseries with a variety of plants and various palm trees can also be found there which are used in restoration work in affected areas as well.

Vision for the future

"We want to make our base a very sustainable area through various initiatives and we also wish to employ permanent staff members because right now we do not have a proper budget. Accommodating university students who want to write projects and do their research and who can also lend us a hand with the projects and source out funding is also on the plan for us," Jean-Baptiste highlighted.

He said one of TRASS' main future goals "is to valourise the rare plant species in Seychelles. We have a botanical trail on the site where our office is based and we have great plans for it. So when visitors go up the trail, they will not only see the plants but information boards all along the way up. There is a viewpoint at the top and we plan to have a tower and put binoculars so that people can see what we mean when we say the scars on the mountains left behind by the forest fires, and what we mean when we talk about rehabilitating the areas."

Beekeeping is another area of focus soon under the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA+) Seychelles programme.

One component of this project is to develop agroforestry-beekeeping as an ecological and economic practice. Honeybees are vital elements in crop production as they are major pollinators. Hence, the practice of beekeeping in agroforestry can also be a sustainable land management practice to be effectively used in rehabilitating degraded areas, conserving our biodiversity, and also becoming an economic incentive in this process.

TRASS celebrated its 15th anniversary on September 27.