A partial view of Aride Nature Reserve

(L-R) Edwin Palmer and Adrian Skerret of Aride Reserve, Minister Jumeau, SBL employees Andrew Richardson and Denis Payette and Aride Head Ranger Tony Jupiter at Tuesday's ceremony to announce the three-year sponsorship deal

Aride Island Nature Reserve received a huge financial boost on Tuesday October 7,  with the announcement of a three-year sponsorship deal worth nearly half a million rupees, via Seychelles Breweries Limited (SBL).

The money, amounting to SR460,000, will be used for three primary projects, namely the construction of a visitor and education centre on the island, introduction of a conservation education programme and to improve the marketing of the island.

Announcing the three-year sponsorship deal in a ceremony on Tuesday at the SBL head office at Le Rocher, the company's managing director Andrew Richardson said: "SBL, with the support of Diageo (the brewery's parent company), is pleased to offer this money to such an innovative eco-tourism project. The support is an example of SBL's beneficial role in the community and a sign of our confidence in the future of Seychelles."

Approximately three quarters of the donation will come from Diageo, with SBL contributing the other quarter, as well as providing expertise in construction and marketing.

In recent years SBL has also made donations to the Shoals of Capricorn reef study and the Veuve wildlife reserve on La Digue, as well as getting involved in the Clean up the World campaign.

Speaking on behalf of Aride Reserve, Executive Officer Adrian Skerrett said: "We are delighted by this generous donation from SBL and Diageo. This support will enable us to enhance Aride so that it can be fully appreciated by Seychellois and tourists. In addition the expertise of SBL will help strengthen the sustainable management of Aride."

Minister for the Environment Ronny Jumeau attended the donation ceremony and heralded the event as the type of partnership that his ministry has been pushing for.

Praising SBL for the size of the donation the minister said that it had, "raised the bar of corporate sponsorship for the environment to new heights."

Established as a nature reserve in 1973, Aride is the largest reserve in the granitic islands and plays host to a greater number of breeding species of birds than any other island in Seychelles.

It is also seen as the granitic island that most represents Seychelles before the islands' discovery, due to a long term programme designed to ensure that only native plant species grow there.

At present few educational visits to the island take place and the effectiveness of those that do is limited by a lack of information and display resources. The management of the island hope that the donation will allow this situation to be redressed and that it will be able to raise awareness of the vital conservation work being carried out by the island's Warden and Rangers.

Aride currently attracts between 1,500 and 1,800 visitors per year, a figure too low to generate sufficient revenue to cover the running costs of the island, according to Mr Skerrett, who suggested that around 2,000 would be required to break even.

A full time Warden has been employed on the island since 1983, with responsibility for producing monthly and annual reports. Despite this depth of information, however, a lack of funds has restricted the amount of research that has been undertaken on Aride.

Tuesday's SBL donation is expected to go a long way towards rectifying this situation.

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