The workshop's aim is to develop a national strategy for plant conservation

Five percent of Seychelles' native plants are already extinct and another 10 percent are critically endangered.

This underscores the need for some form of protection and conservation for endemic plants.

The Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Ronny Jumeau, said this Tuesday March 16 when he opened a two-day workshop hosted by the Plant Conservation Action group (PCA) and aimed at developing a national strategy for plant conservation.

He said the threat and the loss have come after a mere 234 years of permanent human habitation of these islands.

"We now receive more than 120,000 tourists a year, but only 1,500 coco-de-mer nuts are available to them annually," the minister said, adding that this is an example that every Seychellois and every foreigner who has ever visited Seychelles will easily and immediately identify with.

"Add to this the growing pressure of a new trade in coco-de-mer kernels which are highly valued in Asia as a supposed aphrodisiac," he said.

He said that for Seychelles to increase the number of coco-de-mer nuts on the market while ensuring the plant's unique value and long-term survival as the country's best known natural treasure, Seychellois need to collect accurate information about the biological and ecological needs of the species and relate these to the trade of the product.

"Only then can we develop proper management plans to ensure the long-term survival of our beloved coco-de-mer and the benefits derived from it," Minister Jumeau said.

He warned against indiscriminate harvesting and trade of other protected plant species, giving two examples of plants which have been heavily collected for their medicinal properties and are today critically endangered

He named the two as 'Bwa Dou' and 'Bwa Marmay', saying that 'Bwa Marmay' has in fact already been recorded as extinct.

Talking of the need to work more closely with local herbalists towards the same goals, Minister Jumeau expressed hope there would soon be a time when the growing effectiveness in catching, prosecuting and punishing poachers of Seychelles' protected birds and animals will spill over to cover those involved in the illegal trade of coco-de-mer and of palm hearts of the Deckenia.

He congratulated the PCA saying it is the first non-governmental organisation (NGO) to be dedicated entirely to the conservation and protection of these islands' native plants.

"Today, a mere 19 months after its formation, the PCA is spearheading the country's efforts, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and Botanical Garden Conservation International (BGCI) to develop our own national strategy and targets for plant conservation under the Global Plant Conservation Strategy of the CBD, the Convention on Biological Diversity," he said.

Mr Jumeau also pledged that his ministry will in future give preference to smaller environmental organisations.

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