LESSONS FROM SEYCHELLES: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILTY THROUGH INTEGRATED COASTAL PLANNING AND MICRO-FINANCE

The document examines the vulnerability of Seychelles' low-lying islands to sea level rise and extreme weather, highlighting the failure of some hard engineering interventions and the need for integrated coastal planning. It discusses the role of participatory governance in overcoming adaptation barriers and explores micro-insurance as a risk-sharing mechanism to protect livelihoods in the agriculture, fisheries, and tourism sectors.

• Seychelles is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its geography, facing hazards such as storms, flooding, landslides, and sea level rise, which threatens coral reefs, water security, food production, and tourism.
• Coastal vulnerability assessments on La Digue and Mahe indicate that many buildings and critical infrastructure on La Digue face permanent inundation from sea level rise, while some hard engineering solutions, like rock revetments, have failed or caused backshore erosion.
• Effective adaptation requires a combination of soft measures, such as mangrove planting and wetland restoration, alongside the relocation of infrastructure to accommodate natural processes.
• Participatory workshops identified that while some adaptation barriers can be solved with better data and research units, others are deeply rooted in historical sectoral approaches and require long-term institutional change.
• Economic losses from weather disasters in Seychelles have been significant, with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami causing approximately USD $30 million in losses and a January 2013 hurricane causing USD $10 million in damages.
• Current coping mechanisms for disasters in Seychelles and Mauritius rely heavily on personal bank savings and assets; however, micro-insurance is proposed as a viable risk-sharing scheme for the vulnerable agriculture, fisheries, and tourism sectors.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2015). LESSONS FROM SEYCHELLES: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILTY THROUGH INTEGRATED COASTAL PLANNING AND MICRO-FINANCE. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/5GIVRAPD_Policy_Brief_Lessons_from_Seychelles_Coastal_Planning_and_Micro-finance.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. LESSONS FROM SEYCHELLES: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILTY THROUGH INTEGRATED COASTAL PLANNING AND MICRO-FINANCE. 2015. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/5GIVRAPD_Policy_Brief_Lessons_from_Seychelles_Coastal_Planning_and_Micro-finance.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=LESSONS FROM SEYCHELLES: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILTY THROUGH INTEGRATED COASTAL PLANNING AND MICRO-FINANCE |date=August 2015 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/5GIVRAPD_Policy_Brief_Lessons_from_Seychelles_Coastal_Planning_and_Micro-finance.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2015lessons, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{LESSONS FROM SEYCHELLES: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILTY THROUGH INTEGRATED COASTAL PLANNING AND MICRO-FINANCE}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/5GIVRAPD_Policy_Brief_Lessons_from_Seychelles_Coastal_Planning_and_Micro-finance.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }