LEX-FAOC095991

The Seychelles’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) represents the national means for implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It adopts the same vision as the Seychelles Sustainable Development Strategy (SSDS) 2012-2020: “To contribute to the realisation of the nation’s economic, social and cultural potential through an innovative, knowledge-led approach, being mindful of the need to conserve the integrity of the Seychelles natural environment and heritage for present and future generations.” The NBSAP is intended to have a 6-year duration, (2015-2020) so as to coincide with the CBD Strategic Plan Aichi 2020 Biodiversity targets. The instrument pursues the following strategic goals: (1) to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society; (2) to reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use; (3) to improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity; (4) to enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services; (5) to enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building. The document is based upon these guiding principles: (i) Precautionary Principle; (ii) Intrinsic Value; (iii) Ecosystem Approach and Ecologically Sustainable Development; (iv) Interdependence of Humans and Biodiversity. The NBSAP aims to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable. One of its specific objectives is to integrate sustainable production and consumption plans into all sectors in order to keep use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits, and to ensure that biodiversity is conserved by managing agriculture, aquaculture and forestry sustainably. In the field of fisheries, the instrument aims to avoid overfishing by applying sustainable, legal, ecosystem-based harvesting of all fish, invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants such that fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened or vulnerable biodiversity and the impacts on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits. The document also aims to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters. It foresees the implementation of specific projects focused on integrating biodiversity conservation in national emergency plans (see Project 17) as well as integrating biodiversity into existing climate change adaptation programmes (see Project 18). The Government Ministry with portfolio responsibility for Environment will be the lead agency for coordinating, promoting and facilitating implementation of the NBSAP. The Government and civil society organizations that are implementing agencies will identify Focal points and each take responsibility for the implementation of their own projects or project components. An NBSAP Implementation Unit (IU) shall be established under the Environment Department and integrated into the administration framework to facilitate the mainstreaming of biodiversity into and across the economic and development sectors.