2016 Achievement Report June 2016

Report Title
GVI Seychelles rocks the Seychelles EXPO fair
Objective
Public outreach interacting with the local community, raising awareness
about our scientific monitoring efforts and promote the GVI National
scholarship Programme.
Summary
GVI Seychelles attended the international Seychelles Expo fair to raise
awareness about GVI and our scientific monitoring efforts, interact with
the local community and to promote the national scholarship as well as to
ensure the scientific monitoring longevity and sustainability for future
generations.
Report
On the 26th-29th of June 2016, GVI Cap Ternay attended the Seychelles
National Expo Fayre, where GVI were asked to have a booth within the
Eco-village section. An area which was dedicated to promote
environmental and sustainable projects, NGOs and companies currently
operating in the Seychelles. Staff from both Curieuse and Cap Ternay
attended event and created an informational booth with educational
activities, where each half of the booth related to the two projects.

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Of the activities, one of the best was the sea turtle tagging game created
by Science Coordinator Pete from Curieuse, who had made an awesome
wooden sea turtle with detachable

cardboard tagging areas as well as all the necessary tagging equipment

along with it. Visitors coming to the stand each had an attempt at tagging
the turtles flippers after having been demonstrated the proper technique.
As part of the activity the participants were then shown how to collect all
the scientific metadata which is important for the scientific records. Kids
and their parents alike loved the activity and on the whole got really into
the activity treating the turtle as if it was a real hawksbill crawling on to
Anse Badamier beach.
Similarly, the Cap Ternay main activity was to ID different coral fragments
and invertebrate shells, using key feature facts and species flashcards, the
same techniques all of our new volunteers use. The activity was
successful for all ages, from little babies looking at the pretty cowrie shells
to inquisitive adults trying to work out what species were that they
commonly found on the beach. Overall the activities were great
icebreakers especially for people who were curious about the environment
but have no knowledge of where to find information about projects and
monitoring. With some visitors even staying at the stall for over an hour
each asking questions about GVI Seychelles and the work we carry out on
the two projects. The event was great opportunity to recruit young
Seychellois students for the national scholarship with numerous people
asking about what the scholarship involves and how they can get
involved.
Importantly the Expo was a great opportunity for the staff to meet and
chat with important stake holders including NGOs, academics, research
organizations, governmental bodies and even a passing Seychellois
president.
Speaking to the staff that participated we all commented that we felt very
happy and proud to see such an interest and support for the projects from
the general public. As both projects can be very remote and have periods
where interaction with the public is limited for staff, so it was fresh
welcome opportunity to realize the passion and support of the general
public for conservation.

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Ben and Pete discuss the marine monitoring to tourists from Sri Lanka who
were amazed to learn about the coral reef monitoring.

Overall the Expo was a highly successful event in raising the profile of
GVIs conservation effort to the public and other organizations, as well as
informing people about the importance of conservation in the Seychelles
whilst attracting potential national scholars. The event was also a lot of
fun and all the staff who participated had really great time enjoying the
opportunity to meet new people and show case GVIs work.

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