During the 1998 event, the prolonged period of sea water temperatures exceeding 30oC resulted in the corals expelling the symbiotic algae from their tissues leading to the widely observed whitening or bleaching of the coral colony. As the algal cells are responsible for providing much of the coral colonies’ nutrition, their loss resulted in significant coral tissue mortality.

Monitoring coral recruitment after the major bleaching event of 1998.  Photo Ben Stobbard

  In the Seychelles, this mass coral bleaching event resulted in widespread mortality of reef-building hard corals with mortality rates as high as 95% recorded on some reefs around the inner granitic islands. Given the unprecedented scale and magnitude of the coral bleaching event there was considerable uncertainty not only as to the immediate consequences but also in relation to an effective management response to this severe disturbance to the reef ecosystem.

  The Seychelles Marine Ecosystem Management Project (SEYMEMP) was initiated to address these concerns. The project comprises a number of discrete sub-projects that deal with bleaching-related effects on specific components of the coral reef ecosystem.

  The SEYMEMP project also aims to develop specific coping mechanisms to deal with these consequences in a management context. One of the identified ways of achieving the desired outcomes is to maximise the use of relevant scientific and other information with a view to providing protection to key areas of the coral reef and associated coastal ecosystems that:

•  are significant in terms of containing representative examples of local coral reef biodiversity, or

• contain assemblages of coral reef organisms suggested to have higher levels of resilience and tolerance to coral bleaching events.

   In addition to the use of biophysical information, the IMPASP will also consider social and economic needs of relevant stakeholders in the context of other existing national planning activities.

  Adequately protecting areas of reefs that contain diverse and/or resilient communities of coral reef organisms is seen as a means of providing an important safeguard to ensuring the long-term capacity of the local reef and coastal ecosystems to recover from major disturbances. This is particularly important as ecological disturbances such as mass coral bleaching events are widely predicted to become both increasingly frequent and severe in the future.

  The Integrated Marine Protected Area System Plan (IMPASP) plays a key role in identifying priority areas and mechanisms to ensure the adequate protection of Seychelles’ coastal environments in the years ahead. The plan will be designed as a macro-level planning tool and guide for the sustainable long-term management of these areas by Government and Non-Government bodies as well as stakeholders and the general public.