A group called 'Fresh Focus' is working to keep Seychelles' Praslin island clean

The group, called "Fresh Focus," has cleaned beaches and hiking trails on the second most populated island of Seychelles. (Fresh Focus)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Seven young men from Praslin are working to keep their island clean while promoting a lifestyle that is more in touch with nature.

The group, called "Fresh Focus," has cleaned beaches and hiking trails on the second most populated island of Seychelles. Recycling plastic waste is also part of their plan. 

"Fresh Focus is a lifestyle. We regularly go out for hikes and picnics where we do various activities, which involve keeping the island clean and also promote our culture and rehabilitation of nature," a member of the group, Ivan Capricieuse, told SNA on Tuesday.

The group does their activities mainly during the weekends as the members have other commitments during the week. They have on many occasions attracted other members of the public including foreigners to join them.

Activities of Fresh Focus are mostly done during the weekends. (Fresh Focus) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

Aside from cleaning up beaches and trails, Fresh Focus has also installed bins and signs made from recycled items and came up with innovative ways for people to leave the plastic and glass bottles in a safe way, to avoid them going into the bins.

The director of waste management and standards waste enforcement, Fredrick Kinloch, told SNA that he likes the group's work. 

"This is a good initiative in which we see members of a community committed to keeping their environment clean. This is the kind of initiative that we encourage especially with the constraints we are having with the COVID-19. We cannot come together to do different clean-ups," he added.

Members sorting out which will be then recycled. (Fresh Focus) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

"We have currently a clean up the world committee and one of its objectives is to engage the community more into small groups to clean public areas," said Kinloch.   

Capricieuse said that "people have been responding well especially since the media gave us more visibility. But even though a lot of people express interest in joining us, they do not always turn up."

Fresh Focus also aims at spreading awareness through art and to educate people to pay more attention to the nature that surrounds them, as there is a lot of litter each time, they go for one of their hikes and picnics.

One of the initiatives of the group to sensitise people on Praslin. (Fresh Focus) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

"We see that people really do appreciate what we are doing, but they should not just be happy about it, they should practice it. We have been blessed to live in a country as beautiful as Seychelles. A lot of people are envious of our paradise and so it is up to us to protect it," said Capricieuse.

The island of Praslin is well known for its beaches which include Anse Lazio that has been frequently voted as one of the top beaches in the world. The island also has the Vallee de Mai, one of the World Heritage Sites of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, which last year received around 33,000 visitors despite the COVID-19 pandemic.