MCSS launches new children's book: "A Journey through Seychelles Waters"

The MCSS worked on the book with funding from the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCATT). (Juliette Dine) 

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS), a non-governmental organisation, has produced a children's book aimed at giving an insight into marine biodiversity.

Entitled "A Journey through Seychelles Waters," the book has brought to life marine species and ecosystems through captivating illustrations. The main characters in the book are Sandy - the hawksbill turtle - and Finley- the whale shark. Both species are protected in the Seychelles' waters and they travel vast distances.

The MCSS worked on the book with funding from the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCATT) Blue Grant and the project cost over SCR100,000 ($7,300) with a total of 400 copies printed. The book is written in Creole and English.

Although Seychelles has managed to protect 30 percent of the marine territory, MCSS believes there is a lot of information that the youths and the general public do not have access to. 

The book was launched in a ceremony at the National Museum conference room, in which 100 copies were donated to the Ministry of Education through Merna Eulentin, the principal secretary for educational services.

Private schools, the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment and the National Library also received a copy. The public can access it through bookshops in Victoria, the capital.

Copies were donated to the Ministry of Education through Merna Eulentin, the principal secretary for educational services. (Juliette Dine) Photo License: CC-BY

Rabia Somers, programme coordinator at MCSS, said she came up with this idea after the birth of her son a few years ago.

"Being an environmentalist, his books were primarily about the natural world and the incredible species to which it was home. It struck me then how easily and effectively children could be introduced to this most important part of their world through the use of storytelling and captivating imagery, at the critical stage in their lives when they are so naturally fascinated by it and care so much to do right by it," she said.

When SeyCATT launched the 6^th cycle for the Blue Grant fund, the MCCS project proposal had merit and was approved because it aligned well with education, which is a cross-cutting theme under the Blue Grant Fund cycle, said SeyCATT Blue Grant coordinator, Michel Pierre.

"We feel it is important to educate our youth about marine life, the different species and ecosystem and the need to protect them as well the actions that we do that do not help the protection of species and the ecosystem," he added.

Pierre said that SeyCATT would like the children to become the ambassadors of the environment and that they can use this book as a tool to promote the conservation of the environment.