An official of the Ministry of Environment is in the UK on a year long scholarship to study coral reefs at a prestigious UN institution.

Ms Elvina Henriette has taken up a place at the United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) based in Cambridge, UK.

Financing for Ms Henriette's study comes from a UNEP-WCMC Chevening Scholarship, made by the British Foreign Office and worth over £8,000.

In the absence of the British High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Fraser Wilson, Ms Henriette was presented with her ticket by the acting High Commissioner Mr Ian Cormack in a brief ceremony last week at the High Commission office in the Oliaji Trade Centre.

The award of the scholarship coincides with the partnership on coral reefs between Seychelles and the UK, formed as the two countries co-chair the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).

ICRI was established in 1995, and is a partnership of more than 80 countries and organisations dedicated to the sustainable use and conservation of coral reefs and related ecosystems.

The Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology (SCMRT), is the local body charged with representing Seychelles at ICRI. According to the head of the SCMRT, Mr Rolf Payette – who was also present during the ticket presentation ceremony – an offer was made for two Seychellois to go to the UK, over the next two years, to study at the UNEP-WCMC as part of the ICRI partnership.

Currently employed as the Senior Project Officer in the Ministry of Environment's Conservation Section, Ms Henriette is set to gain experience in research and environmental management at a global level, through her work at the UNEP-WCMC.

Mr Payette explained that Ms Henriette had been chosen after an assessment in the Ministry of Environment of the staff with the necessary skills and the most to gain from the placement.

The SCMRT head said that the candidate for 2004 will probably come from SCMRT, which currently employs around 40 members of staff.

Mr Payette said that the work of ICRI is progressing very well and has, under Seychelles' leadership, seen the launch of small grants fund, open to governments and NGOs, the development of networking between developing small island states and a revamp of ICRI website, www.icriforum.org, amongst other initiatives.

The first ICRI meeting under the Seychelles/UK is to be held in the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean, in November.

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