11/09/2026
Artificial Reef Program
The Seychelles Exemple :
Report
Location
Cousin Island Special Reserve, Seychelles
The challenge
In 1998, the mass coral bleaching event, caused by the coupling of El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, severely affected the reefs of the Seychelles Archipelago. The 1998 bleaching catastrophe decreased live coral cover by up to 97% in some areas and caused many reefs around the islands to collapse into rubble (which later became covered with algae). In the following decades, coral recovery has been extremely slow in the inner granitic islands of Seychelles. Despite the existence of numerous no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) – an effective tool to bolster coral reef recovery – it has taken almost 20 years to see coral cover at pre-1998 levels in most areas in the region. A 2011 survey of 21 reefs in the area between Mahé and Praslin revealed coral cover of up to 23% on average and less than 1% of macroalgae. However, nine reefs had shifted toward macroalgae dominated reefs with an average of 42% in macroalgal cover and less than 3% in coral cover. ref In 2016, a second major coral bleaching event occurred in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The Seychelles has been severely impacted with a more than 30% reduction in coral cover nationally. ref The reef around Cousin Island, including the area previously restored, was impacted resulting in a decrease of coral cover from around 40% to less than 10% (project results).
Coral reef degradation and limited recovery may threaten the economy of Seychelles, including loss of revenue from tourism and recreational activities, negative impacts on fisheries, and exposure of the shoreline to erosion. Thus, restoration of coral reefs needs to be consistent and long-term to guarantee the recovery of ecological functions and benefits.
Actions taken
The slow post-bleaching recovery motivated active restoration efforts in the inner islands of the Seychelles archipelago to assist in natural recovery. In 2010, Nature Seychelles launched the Reef Rescuers (RR) project on Praslin Island. Financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this climate adaptation coral restoration project seeks to repair coral bleaching damage in selected sites around Cousin Island Special Reserve, a no-take marine reserve. The success of the Reef Rescuers project led to a new phase with the aim of scaling up actions and building on milestones achieved. The next phase will continue using the “reef gardening” concept, testing new methodologies, and set research projects to restore at least 1 hectare of degraded reef and cultivating at least 50,000 corals by 2026.
The new phase of the project is a collaboration between the Seychelles and Mauritius to restore reefs and boost scientific knowledge and regional exchanges. The new phase is supported by a grant from the Adaptation Fund through UNDP and the Government of Seychelles through the project “Restoring Marine Ecosystem Services by Restoring Coral Reefs to Meet a Changing Climate Future.”
