Report Title

Tree Props up the Project

Objective
Continue to develop and improve our base camp on Curieuse Island and in
particular to continue reducing its environmental impact on the island.
Summary
This achievement contributes to the objective of developing and improving our
base camp by developing the infrastructure. The Bommie roof is one of our main
sources of rainwater collection on camp, and by bringing it back into service it
greatly reduces the amount of groundwater drawn from the reservoir shared with
the Dr. House barbeque area. This reduces the competition for often scarce fresh
water resources.

Report
GVI Curieuse is home to both the Island Conservation and Construction
programmes. With Curieuse Island being a national park our ecological
conservation work is our bread and butter, and accordingly it claims most of the
limelight. Today however, its a chance to reflect on some of the regularl
construction work going on around base. Our well-equipped kit room has
everything a budding carpenter or electrician may need. Projects range from the
smaller scale (shelving and furniture etc.) to the more substantial such as major
building works. Previous volunteers have helped in the construction of many
aspects of camp; fitting windows and doors to the dormitories, constructing
water drainage systems, building worktops for the volunteer kitchen or creating
our well-used rubbish and recycling station to name but a few.
These projects are well thought out and planned to fit around the science
schedule, or saved for when construction volunteers come to the program.

GVI.2015.1

Occasionally however, something urgent springs up and last month the team on
Curieuse had to repair the roof of their communal dining area, the Bommie.
Early in the afternoon of Monday 24th August Base Manager Alan shimmied up a
ladder to check on the electrics which feed the Bommie lights, a five minute job.
From his vantage point something was instantly obvious - the roof, once as
horizontal as the finest Seychellois spirit level, was clearly sagging in the middle
with the main post supporting that section definitely lower than it used to be.
The island had just experienced a few days of uncharacteristically wet weather
(98.9mm over 3 days, during the peak of dry season). Alan recruited Science
Officer James and they thought there was an easy explanation the heavy rain
must have caused the post to sink into wet ground. So the plan was simple and
the boys set-to: support the roof, dig out around the post, reinforce the
foundation with a new concrete footing; it will all be done in time for an
afternoon cup of tea.
Everything was going to plan, leverage in the correct spot here, a temporary
brace there, in no time the roof was back to the correct height. However, in this
process the true reason for the sinking became apparent the base of the post
was rotten and the job was exponentially larger than first thought.
At the end of last year the Seychelles Forestry department had cleared back a
large number of Takamaka trees from the west side of camp, creating space for
the construction of two new volunteer dormitories. From this, there were still a
number of substantial pieces of good quality hard wood timber on site, and
plenty cement from the construction projects.
A

replacement post was selected against some

stringent criteria long (at least 390cm),
straight, moveable by two people (the rest of the
staff and volunteers were out conducting field
work). The new post was fitted with a substantial
foundation to ensure its strength. The team hand
mixed around 300kg of concrete to create a
foundation along with another 100kg of rocks for
extra support. The post and roof was
immediately tested with the wettest week of the
year (another 469.4mm) and is clearly fit for the
job, but one things for sure nothing ever takes
five minutes on Curieuse!

All of this, and there was not a construction

volunteer in sight. However, there are plenty of
future opportunities for construction volunteers
to help with similar projects. Expansion from a 12
to 18 capacity camp means a second new dormitory is currently under
construction. A roof will be fitted within the next month followed by windows and
doors after that. A new double volunteer shower block is under way, the
rainwater harvesting system is ready to be upgraded and there are even plans to
rebuild one of our two boats. So if youre handy with a hammer, or would like to
learn some new skills then there is still plenty to help out with on Curieuse.

GVI.2015.1