The announcement that the EU’s flagship GCCA programme was investing €2m in building sea defences to protect beaches and hotels on the island of La Digue in Seychelles brought many reactions from environmentalists and Diguois. The island is suffering from Sand erosion at Anse Reunion, and the EU will now be investing Euro 2million to try to mitigate this de-stabilising phenomenon, which is partly man made.
For the last couple of years, the sand from Anse Reunion moves north, goes into the harbour, then dredged out to keep the harbour deep. The sand is then sold to the various building projects as fill, instead of being returned to the southern end of Anse Reunion to start it’s cycle again.
Sand movement is a natural phenomenon and if sand is just taken out, La Digue will end up being an island surrounded by a wall. The laws or regulations of Seychelles stops the removal of sand from its beaches, but on La Digue, under the watchful eye of the State, sand is not only removed by tons, but used for purposes that the laws or regulations were made to stop.
Today the EU will step in and spend Euro 2 million to try to mitigate what we are doing by ourselves to destroy the beauty of La Digue.
La Digue is an island in the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. It’s known for its beaches, like Anse Source d’Argent, dotted with granite boulders, on the west coast. To the south, isolated Anse Bonnet Carré Beach, with calm, shallow water, is accessible only on foot, as is Anse Cocos Beach, in a protected bay on the east coast. La Digue’s diverse wildlife can be seen in the Veuve Nature Reserve.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- The laws or regulations of Seychelles stops the removal of sand from its beaches, but on La Digue, under the watchful eye of the State, sand is not only removed by tons, but used for purposes that the laws or regulations were made to stop.
- The announcement that the EU's flagship GCCA programme was investing €2m in building sea defences to protect beaches and hotels on the island of La Digue in Seychelles brought many reactions from environmentalists and Diguois.
- To the south, isolated Anse Bonnet Carré Beach, with calm, shallow water, is accessible only on foot, as is Anse Cocos Beach, in a protected bay on the east coast.
