1 2

GVI Seychelles
December 2013, Issue 1
Spring 2016, Issue 4

Inside this Issue

SUBIOS The Birds of Curieuse Island Reducing our Carbon Footprint Completion of Giant Tortoise Census Turtle Monitoring Programme A visit to Aldabra Atoll GVI Charitable Trust National Scholarship Programme

Introduction
Welcome to the first edition of the GVI Seychelles quarterly newsletter. GVI Seychelles is working in the Seychelles in partnership with the Seychelles National Parks Authority, collecting critical marine and terrestrial data on Mahe and Curieuse Island. Each issue of the newsletter will look to bring you a selection of some of the latest news from the field as well as updates on new initiatives and activities. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

SUBIOS 2013
GVI Seychelles participated in the annual SUBIOS Festival on November 23-24 2013 in Beau Vallon. The GVI Marine Conservation Expedition attended the event with the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF), Seychelles Islands Foundation, Academy by the Sea, and representatives from the Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival to lead educational activities for local children. During the two-day event, twenty two GVI volunteers from across the globe assisted eager participants in creating marine themed arts and crafts, which proved to be extremely popular with the kids. GVI displayed information about the work undertaken in the Seychelles, monitoring the health of the coral reefs around Mahe and recording turtle data, both in the water on dives and out of the water during turtle nesting season. In addition to leading activities, a few volunteers participated in the SUBIOS Man & Woman Competition. Niklas Mischke and Nico Fassbender, both from Germany, teamed up with Jonas Bosman, a volunteer from Belgium to compete together against other teams from Seychelles. The competition consisted of a 150 meter swim, 700 meter run and 150 meter kayak. The guys braved the rain and surf to complete all three events, even though they had never used a kayak before! Though the GVI team did not win, they had a great time competing while the rest of the volunteers and staff cheered them on from the beach. The theme for the 2013 SUBIOS event was Sustaining Life in a Sea of Change It is an important message and the opportunity to participate in SUBIOS alongside other environmental NGOs enabled GVI volunteers to engage with the local community and visitors to the islands and to discuss the importance of the marine environment and the increasing pressures it is facing today.

Lorem Ipsum

The Birds of Curieuse Island

Curieuse Island is the fifth largest of the Seychelles inner granitic islands, and is home to some amazing wildlife that we are lucky enough to survey everyday as part of the GVI project here. An early morning bird survey or tweet as we call them is one of the nicest ways to start your day. Tweets start at six am, which is when birds are most active. We have 28 locations on the island where we carry out our tweets, they are set within the mangrove forest and along the coastline of Curieuse that faces the island of Praslin. At each location we carry out what is known as a point count survey, this involves recording all the bird species and numbers of individuals seen in the area within a ten minute period. We also record the distance of the bird from the observer and the behaviour of the bird at the time it was seen. Curieuse Island previously had a bird species list of 56 species, but a bird species not on the list, the little egret, was found here in the mangroves by staff and volunteers of GVI. The day we found the SBRC (Seychelles Birds Records Committee) had accepted the sighting was a very exciting day taking the bird species list of Curieuse Island up to 57 species. The habitats of Curieuse Island and surrounding waters are perfect for a variety of shore birds such as waders and many sea birds. Lesser Noddies patrol the shorelines foraging for fish; grey herons sit and wait for the opportune moment to plunge their head into the water to catch a fish, whimbrels, ruddy turnstones and grey plovers forage for invertebrates on the beach and mudflat, sunbirds sing their hearts out wherever you go and fairy terns swoop down to volunteers out of curiosity which is very exciting as staff and volunteers are just as curious about them as they are about all of Curieuse Islands birds.

Reducing our carbon footprint

December 2013 saw the one-year anniversary of the installation of the GVI Curieuse photovoltaic system. The 1.92kWp array has eight panels made up of two series of four. Mounted on a specially designed frame the panels are located on top of one of the central buildings in order to maximize available sunlight. Having previously relied on generators to meet the research bases energy needs, the solar system has enabled the GVI Curieuse team to switch to 100% renewable energy. The savings made on generator and fuel costs means the PV system will pay back the initial investment within 15 months. Aside from the financial savings, the switch to renewable energy has helped GVI Curieuse significantly reduce its carbon footprint. The change from a 2-stroke to a 4-stroke boat engine has further facilitated a lowering of carbon emissions. In keeping with our commitment to minimize our environmental impact, a water harvesting system had been built to collect rainwater and reduce our reliance on the islands limited natural water source. Guttering attached to each building feeds a series of water butts allowing for the collection and storage of rainwater. Plans are now underway to create an organic garden and grow herbs and vegetables on the research base. The extra produce will be used to supplement supplies bought from Praslin Island. GVI Seychelles is continually looking for ways to mitigate our environmental impact as part of our wider commitment to help combat climate change.

To read more about the Birds of Curieuse Island, you can download Patrick Woods paper from the Seychelles Birds Record Committee website http://www.seychellesbirdrecordscommittee.com/uplo ads/8/0/0/5/8005875/birds_of_curieuse__p._woods_2013.pdf

3 2

Completion of Giant Tortoise Census

The annual census of the giant tortoise population (Aldabrachelys gigantea ) on Curieuse Island is now complete. The census was collaboration between Global Vision International and the Seychelles National Parks Authority and was initiated in May 2013 through a workshop provided by Dr Jeanne Mortimer. The workshop was an opportunity to learn proper handling and tagging techniques prior to commencing work in the field. Over the following six months teams of GVI staff and volunteers and SNPA rangers have undertaken bi-weekly treks across the island with the aim of locating and tagging the giant tortoise population. Each tortoise was scanned for a Passive Integrated Transmitter (P.I.T) and those without were injected with a new tag. The primary objectives of the census were to examine population structure and distribution throughout the island. This was achieved by measuring and tagging each individual tortoise and recording its exact location on the island. Aside from identifying the current population numbers, health and ratio of males, females and juveniles, the new annual census will provide baseline data for future research. Approximately 250 giant tortoises were relocated to Curieuse Island from Aldabra between 1978 and 1982. Since then follow up population surveys of the population were conducted in 1986, 1990 and 1997. The current census, which was completed at the end of November 2013, identified 125 individual tortoises, 68 of which were tagged during the 1997 census. GVI and SNPA plan to repeat the census each year to monitor survivorship, health and movement of the Curieuse population.

Turtle Monitoring Programme

Sitting in the shade, watching a hawksbill sea turtle dig a nest, Israeli volunteer Daniel says, this is the fifth nesting turtle Ive seen since Ive been here and its just as exciting as the first. Its the end of November and the peak season for sea turtle nesting has arrived. Sea turtle patrols on Curieuse Island are a joint venture between GVI and the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA). GVI volunteers search four of the seven nesting beaches Monday through Friday with SNPA checking the beaches on the weekends. GVI volunteers check the other three beaches once a week, as they are less popular nesting sites. Patrol teams record how many activities, or times sea turtles have come ashore. They also tag sea turtles and take facial id shots when they encounter a turtle. Combined, the data shows how many females nest on Curieuse annually. An estimated 50 female hawksbills nested two years ago (2011-2012) and last season (2012-2013) an estimated 75 females nested on Curieuse. Its common for population numbers to fluctuate between years because females dont nest every year. Instead, an individual female may nest every 2-7 years. Additionally, one to two green sea turtles are estimated to nest on Curieuse each year. It is uncommon for Green sea turtles to nest in the inner granitic islands so each nest and track from a Green Turtle is an exciting find. Hawksbill nesting season lasts from mid-October through February. The first nest was due to hatch on November 26 th this year. Once a nest has hatched patrol teams dig up the nest to determine the success rate of nests on each beach. This information allows us to calculate the number hatchlings Curieuse supports each year.

GVI SEYCHELLES

December 2014, ISSUE 1

A Visit to Aldabra Atoll

In October to November of this year GVI Seychelles were invited to assist in a multi-partnered marine research expedition, The Pangaea Project. 'The Pangaea Project' set out to be a five year expedition to establish fish connectivity in the Western Indian Ocean, while facilitating research projects of the various partners, including Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), Islands Conservation Society (ICS) and Island Development Company (IDC). The expedition was organised and run by the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) in partnership with the Teach Green Foundation, and Outpost Expeditions. The Seychelles partners participated in the research programme, and were facilitated to carry out their own research initiatives that were in line with the overall project objective. Aldabra Atoll, managed by SIF, is the key reference site for the project, owing to its relatively pristine condition as a result of long isolation and minimal human impacts, making Aldabra an important reference site for comparison to impacted sites. As part of SIFs Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded project one of the main objectives was to re-establish diver based marine surveys of coral cover and reef associated fish, which are useful indicators of environmental change GVI Seychelles were invited to assist SIF in the diver based marine surveys on Aldabra Atoll. Science Coordinator Lee Cassidy travelled down to Aldabra for two weeks of surveying on the pristine reefs of this UNESCO world heritage site. "This was a trip of a lifetime for me, I feel very privileged to have been given the chance to go to such a unique place as Aldabra, it is somewhere I have always dreamed about visiting. The abundance of life at Aldabra is staggering, particularly the larger marine mega-fauna like turtles, sharks and groupers" said Lee on his return. Lee was able to assist with survey dives that were focussed on assessing the status of the fish and coral populations of Aldabra, and also helped to set up additional survey sites for future research programs. Encounters with wildlife were frequent, Lee sighted many sharks, turtles, sea birds, giant tortoises, for which the Atoll is so famous, and even a dugong which are a rare sight in the Indian Ocean. After two weeks Lee returned with many stories to tell and to continue the work conducted by GVI Seychelles on monitoring the health of the coral reefs around Mah Island. SIF project leader Philip Haupt commented that GVIs participation in the marine surveys were of great value for SIF. Lees experience and enthusiasm, and long hours of dedicated planning were of great assistance, and helped make the project such a success. It is of tremendous benefit to be able to draw experience and partner with a Seychelles based organisation on local projects. GVI Seychelles Cap Ternay raises funds for the Presidents Village Childrens Home in Port Glaud. We do this by participating in quarterly fund raisers where both staff and volunteers take on challenges ranging from sponsored scavenger hunts around the island, marathon snorkels and homemade raft races. This quarter the camp has been raising funds to buy Christmas presents for all the children in the childrens home. Throughout the month of November the men on the camp have been participating in a battle of the beards contest, growing out their facial hair and ending in a competition to see who could shave in the best bearded style. Despite the leaky scuba masks, constant itchiness and the heat involved in maintaining a full facial beard in a tropical climate our volunteers and staff members have helped to raise a massive 9,703RS during this event. Along with raising money quarterly, GVI also provides weekly in-water snorkel sessions for a group of Blacktip reef shark

GVI Charitable Trust

children from the Presidents Village. During these sessions we try to get the children comfortable both in the water and also with snorkel equipment. We take them on snorkel tours just off the beach and try to introduce them to the marine life of the Seychelles, as well as spending a few quality hours every week playing with the children in the water whether that be playing some in water volleyball, swimming races or sand castle building competitions, both the volunteers and children love these sessions. We are already planning our first quarterly fund raiser for 2014 and will participate in the Eco-Marathon on February 23 in Beau Vallon.

National Scholarship Programme

GVI runs NSP programmes in over 20 countries worldwide to enable and fund local nationals to participate in our programmes and receive all relevant training. When receiving applications for NSP programmes we are looking for candidates who can demonstrate a real interest in the relevant training opportunities of the programme and those that can explain how this opportunity will enrich their current interests and future pursuits. As an organization we hope to be able to use our resources to enrich local capacities and provide unique opportunities for local youths. GVI Seychelles scholarships include: 4 weeks on project site (minimum) Food and shared accommodation while on project base PADI Advanced Open Water training and certification (marine only) PADI Coral Reef Research Diver Speciality Certification (marine only) Species identification and survey methodology training Emergency First Responder Training Personal Mentor

To apply for GVI Seychelles Marine Conservation or Island Conservation Scholarship please send a CV, a statement of interest and a Christmas party and the Presidents Village Childrens Home reference to seychelles@gviworld.com

Follow GVI Seychelles

Keep up to date with all the latest news, blogs and live updates from the field by following GVI Seychelles on one of our various social media outlets.

Website - www.gvi.co.uk Charitable Trust website - www.gvi.org Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GVISeychellesMaheCurieuse

Twitter - https://twitter.com/GVISeychelles Blogspot - gviseychelles.blogspot.com/