Newly accredited German ambassador Bernd Braun Tuesday April 6 signed over 9,000 Euros worth of funds for two community and environment focused projects.

In a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ambassador Braun and MFA principal secretary Sylvestre Radegonde signed an agreement which will see money from the German government's Small Project Fund divided between community developments on La Digue and an environment project for the Botanical Gardens.

Mr Braun (left) and Mr Radegonde sign the agreement

The La Digue funding will be used for the construction of a recreational park at La Passe, a small bridge on Takamaka road and a footpath to Belle Vue.

At the Botanical Gardens the money will allow the develop of environmental education materials for use by schoolchildren and visitors to the gardens.

Speaking on behalf of the Ministry for Local Government, Sports and Culture, P.S. Olsen Vidot explained that the department of Local Government had a number of projects available for consideration, which were reviewed by the German Embassy in Nairobi ahead of the funding announcement.

Mr Vidot said it was hoped that the "footpath will have a positive impact on the community, by facilitating access," and said he expected both Diguios and visitors to the island to benefit from the construction of the recreational park.

Acting Director of the Botanical Gardens Dennis Matatiken said that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources would use their share of the money to produce "different types of interpretation media," including brochures and identification cards.

Mr Matatiken said that the 4,500 Euros received would be used to provide resources of interest to visitors of a wide age range.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs director of International Relations, Selby Pillay, confirmed that the decision of which projects to fund had been taken by the German embassy and also pointed out that a third project, targeted at community development on Praslin, is also set to receive German government funding.

The Praslin project is to benefit from 6,000 Euros worth of funding and Mr Pillay expressed his hope that the money would be released next month.

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