Identifying and lifting climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles using a participatory approach

This research paper describes the application of a participatory methodology to identify and address climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles. Through workshops involving the agriculture, fisheries, and tourism sectors, the study highlights a disconnect between national planning and local implementation, primarily driven by a lack of climate vulnerability data and the marginalization of local actors.

• The participatory methodology revealed that climate adaptation in Seychelles is dominated by national ministries and agencies, with local actors remaining largely excluded from the planning and implementation of adaptation actions.
• In the fisheries and tourism sectors, the primary barrier to implementing local adaptation actions is a lack of evidence and data regarding climate change vulnerability, which is attributed to poor communication of science, uncertain data perceptions, and a lack of human resources and data collection systems.
• Stakeholders in the agriculture sector identified a unique barrier: the sector is not prioritized because it generates limited foreign exchange, which threatens national food security given that Seychelles imports 90% of its consumption.
• Proposed practical actions to overcome data barriers include the creation of an institutional setup for climate change data collection and the establishment of a national adaptation office to coordinate research and monitoring involving all stakeholders.
• Analysis of sectoral networks shows that while international organizations are the primary source of adaptation funding, these funds are mostly concentrated at the national level (specifically the Ministry of Finance and Development Bank of Seychelles) and rarely reach local actors in the fisheries and tourism sectors.
• Climate projections for Mahé island, where over 90% of the population resides, indicate that the dry season will become drier and the wet season wetter, with sea level rise anticipated between 0.4m and 0.6m from 2070 to 2100.

APA

STANTON, M. B., & DOWNING, T. E. (2014). Identifying and lifting climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles using a participatory approach. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Working-Paper-Identifying-and-lifting-climate-adaptation-barriers-in-Seychelles-using-participatory-approach.pdf

Chicago

STANTON, Muriel BONJEAN, and Thomas E. DOWNING. Identifying and lifting climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles using a participatory approach. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Working-Paper-Identifying-and-lifting-climate-adaptation-barriers-in-Seychelles-using-participatory-approach.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=STANTON |first1=Muriel BONJEAN |last2=DOWNING |first2=Thomas E. |title=Identifying and lifting climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles using a participatory approach |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=2014 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Working-Paper-Identifying-and-lifting-climate-adaptation-barriers-in-Seychelles-using-participatory-approach.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanton2014identifying, author = {STANTON, Muriel BONJEAN and DOWNING, Thomas E.}, title = {{Identifying and lifting climate adaptation barriers in Seychelles using a participatory approach}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Working-Paper-Identifying-and-lifting-climate-adaptation-barriers-in-Seychelles-using-participatory-approach.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }