New garden brings piece of Thailand to Seychelles

New garden brings piece of Thailand to Seychelles

23-May-2014

Seychellois and visitors alike can now have a taste of Thailand right here in Seychelles instead of travelling hundreds of miles to this exotic south-east Asian country.

This follows the official opening yesterday of a Thai garden located in our National Botanical Gardens at Mont Fleuri.

While officially opening the garden, the Minister for Environment and Energy Dr Rolph Payet described the new attraction as “a real piece of Thailand” in Seychelles.

The ceremony was held in the presence of the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St Ange; Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Seychelles Ittiporn Boonpracong; principal secretaries for Foreign Affairs and for Environment and Energy, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne and Wills Agricole respectively; the chief executive of the Thai Botanical Garden Organisation Dr Suyanese Vessabutr and the National Botanical Garden Foundation’s (NBGF) chief executive Raymond Brioche.


The Thai Seychelles Garden comprises two projects – the garden itself and the propagation and tissue culture laboratory which is the first such laboratory in Seychelles.

It will assist the NBGF to propagate plants which are difficult to grow and help in conservation efforts especially of endemic species.

Minister Payet noted that the garden project started last year as part of activities to mark the anniversary of the establishment of relations in 1998 between Seychelles and Thailand.

Minister Payet listed several areas of cooperation which Seychelles and Thailand have enjoyed over the years, noting that Thailand was among the first countries to assist Seychelles following the December 2004 tsunami by donating $30,000 to the government and people of Seychelles.

“Seychelles and Thailand are also keen to explore other areas of cooperation for the future such as in health and potential training programmes as well as collaboration with our university here,” added Minister Payet.

The minister paid tribute to the Thai community in Seychelles, especially in the fisheries sector, who were also present at the ceremony and noted the influence of the Thai way of life which is slowly influencing ours. He made reference to Thai food and cuisine which he said will now become more evident with the opening of this Thai garden.

“The spices grown here will be available for sale and at this point I would like to call on restaurants, hotels and other tourism establishments to get their fresh spices from this garden and at the same time financially support this initiative which will help in the maintenance and growth of this garden in Seychelles,” Minister Payet said.

Referring to the micro-propagation and tissue culture laboratory -- the second component of the Thai garden project -- Minister Payet said apart from assisting the NBGF and guaranteeing the conservation of the endemic species, it will also assist with other types of research in order to further increase the knowledge of plant diagnostic in Seychelles. The laboratory has been fully funded by the Kingdom of Thailand.


Dr Vessabutr said staff of the NBGF will be undergoing capacity building training at the Thai botanical garden in the concept of the Thai conservation programme.

Ambassador Boonpracong said yesterday’s event was a time to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Expressing his excitement at seeing the Thai garden, the ambassador noted that more than 10,000 plants have been shipped over from Thailand to create such an attraction.

He commended the good cooperation and hard work of the staff of the NBGF and the Thai team for such a venture.

Mr Brioche described the official opening of the Thai Seychelles Garden as an important milestone in the friendship between Thailand and Seychelles.

He said that a little bit of Thailand has been opened right here on our islands and called on plants and culinary enthusiasts to admire, learn and sample the different species found here.

The ceremony ended with entertainment by staff of the NBGF and the Thai team.

The garden consists of plants from Thailand, South East Asia which has the world’s largest orchids, as well as from Seychelles itself. The plants include various kind of orchids, kitchen mint, hairy basil, sweet basil, windbetal leafbash, lime and common lime, Indian borage, among many others.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=241775

“Once in your life you should plant a tree”

02-February-2015




“Celui qui a planté un arbre avant de mourir n'a pas vécu inutilement. Environment is something we should take care of. At least once in your life you should plant a tree so that the next generation can enjoy what our generation i. So that is the reason why we are here this afternoon to plant trees,” said Mr Dinah.

This was the message echoed by the Managing Director of Airtel Mr Amadou Dinah on Thursday evening during a tree planting ceremony at Perseverance 1 by the local telecommunications company. This forms part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. Airtel has been involved in various such activities for the community in the past with the recent one being the renovation and handing over of the of the blood transfusion unit to the Health Care Agency.

He informed the people living at Perseverance that the place has been adopted by Airtel. The company is not only planting trees but will also put up benches so that the inhabitants can sit there in the evening; the children play and enjoy themselves.

In a thank you message on behalf of the Perseverance 1 district community, Ms Christina Dora, thanked Airtel for taking that initiative to donate this project to them and they are so happy about it.

“We will take good care of the trees. I will ask the community to take good care of them to ensure they grow very well,” she said adding she hopes tom see more of AIRTEL involvement there.

The trees were supplied by the Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) which was also present at the planting. They consist of local fruit trees like golden apples, papaya, “Coeur de boeuf’, soursop, avocado, guavas, mangoes just to name some. The people of Perseverance 1 will tend to the trees to facilitate their growth.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244388

New lease of life for traditional farm crops

25-August-2015

A Plant Genetic Resource Centre (PGRC) is being developed at Petite Barbarons to revive the field germplasm bank for fruits and traditional agricultural crops. This has been made possible following a public private partnership agreement between the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and a young, prominent, aspiring Seychellois farmer, Jean Paul Geffroy of Geffroy’s Farm, Anse Royale.



A field germplasm bank is the collection and conservation in this case of plants which have agricultural and food value in the field.
The concept of germplasm bank is not new to the country as in the late 1970s Grand Anse, Mahé had its first well organised collection of avocado, mango, citrus and guava from various parts of the world. However much of its national heritage has decimated due to the area being overtaken by the district’s events and developments.

government has identified 1.3 hectares of land adjacent to Mr Geffroy’s leased agricultural plot at Petite Barbarons which will be leased to him for the duration of 30 years at the ongoing rate of leased agricultural land.
This bank will not only be a site where new and traditional fruits, trees and agricultural crops such as kanbar, zak, rezen, lerouy, zoranz mozanbik and others will be conserved. It will also be an educational centre where locals and visitor alike will be able to come and learn about fruits and agricultural crops.
The remnant of the bank within the Grand Anse has acquired the status worthy of national protection as its resources is of economic significance and part of our national treasure to value.
The agreement was signed by the Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Wallace Cosgrow and Jean Paul Geffroy last Friday at the Avani Beach Hotel, Barbarons.
It took place in the presence of high officials, ministers, principal secretaries, chief executives, Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) members and other distinguished guests.
During the signing ceremony, the acting curator for the PGR Unit of the SAA, Barry Nourrice, led a presentation on the concept and implementation of the plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and how the decision came about to collaborate with Mr Geffroy in early 2014.
Mr Nourrice also paid tribute to the pioneers of the PGR in Seychelles, who included Phillipe Changty-Sing, Clifford Adam and Norbert Roucou.
He said: “Let this centre be a national action, saying with a loud voice ‘we love Seychelles’.”
Addressing everyone present, Mr Geffroy said: “My inputs and efforts will be unlimited. I have already invested considerably on land preparation of the plot. I will invest in a nursery to prepare young grafted plants of varieties that we will conserve. However I will depend on the technical guidance of the SAA. I will install a complete irrigation system to ensure adequate watering of the plants during the dry seasons and when rains are inadequate. I will provide farm labour to maintain the germplasm bank on a continuous basis along with the provision of inputs such as fertilisers and pest control products.”
The SAA staff will have access to the propagation materials, but Mr Geffroy will keep the produce.
Mr Geffroy also had a vote of thanks to the institutions and all those who supported the collective success in the initiation of this project.
In his speech, Minister Cosgrow saluted Mr Geffroy as a “farsighted risk-taker” who has revolutionised the way food is produced locally and said that this agreement is the first recognisable public private partnership modality, in a significant agricultural venture for the production of public goods.
“The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture is committed to sustaining this partnership, and in doing that it will honour its commitment to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), an international statutory instrument to which Seychelles is a signatory,” Minister Cosgrow said.
Minister Cosgrow and Mr Goffrey unveiled the plaque to officially open the new agricultural field germplasm bank at Petite Barbarons which was followed by a tree planting session on site.


http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=246562