午夜福利1000集合

The Seychelles has a reputation for protecting the environment. How important is the natural world to your nation?

It sustains our entire livelihood 鈥� both tourism and the fishing industry. National parks account for 51 per cent of our land, which is a world record.

Somali pirates are active in the eastern Indian Ocean. Is that damaging activities around the country鈥檚 coasts?

Yes. Piracy has posed a very serious problem for marine science 鈥� monitoring tuna stocks for example. Fishing boats have been able to continue fishing because they are now armed, but scientists have not been able to continue their work, which is of equal importance.

What plans do you have to tackle the problem?

We may have to put guards on the research vessels. The science must continue, it鈥檚 absolutely essential for the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry. At the moment we鈥檝e got a couple of patrol vessels with a range of more than 1000 nautical miles. One has been completely refurbished and is equipped with modern equipment for monitoring and detection. We also have a number of aircraft, and we鈥檙e receiving military support and provision of surveillance from other countries and NATO.

Are you winning?

The piracy threat has become more stable, but I don鈥檛 think we should be lulled into a false sense of security.

What would you say to a potential ecotourist in London who is thinking of visiting the Seychelles but is worried about the carbon footprint of their flight?

The Seychelles is a net sink of carbon. We absorb about 850 million tonnes annually and only emit about 225 million tonnes. I think it would be most unfair to say that the Seychelles, Mauritius or the Maldives should not remain as tourist destinations because of carbon emissions by the long-haul airline industry. It would be yet another unfair position that the industrialised countries would be putting us in because of something we are not responsible for in the first place.

We cannot be made to pay the consequences of overdevelopment by the industrialised nations. The Alliance of Small Island States, of which we are a member, is lobbying strongly for a legally binding agreement on emission levels so that the overall global temperature rise within the next 50 years will not exceed 1.5 掳C.

What would happen if global temperatures rise by 2 掳C?

Most of our islands are low-lying coral only 1.5 metres above mean sea level. If the sea level rises by 25 centimetres we will have increased storm surges, which would flood the islands and possibly destroy them. That would mean a loss of territory, consequent loss of the Exclusive Economic Zone, and also loss on our returns from fishing. The inhabited islands would also suffer from a loss of tourism. Sadly I鈥檓 not optimistic about a climate change deal this year.