Corals in the Seychelles and the region have been destroyed by ocean warming and coral bleaching events, threatening the livelihoods of millions of coastal peoples in Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Nature Seychelles’ Reef Rescuers project is a coral reef restoration project started to combat Climate Change induced coral bleaching in Seychelles.
Coral bleaching interferes with reef’s health and resilience capacity, harms coral’s ability to regenerate, affects reproductive performances and increases disease prevalence. The Reef Rescuers Project has been restoring damaged coral reefs in the Cousin Island Special Reserve by growing different coral species in nurseries and transplanting them onto degraded sites. The project began in 2010 with the financial support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Further financial support was received under the Government of Seychelles-Global Environment Facility (GEF)-United Nations Development Project (UNDP) Protected Area Project in 2011. In 2020, a new phase of the project started, which is supported by a grant from the Adaptation Fund through UNDP and the Government of Seychelles.
