AIMS (Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea)

Beth | 24 Jun 2011
By MATTHEW SALTMARSH Published: June 11, 2010 PARIS — The government of the Maldives wants its money back — $400 million to be precise. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the former president of Maldives, and his associates are believed to have looted some $400 million from the country’s government. That is the amount that it estimates was looted by its former president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and his associates. Mr. Gayoom dominated politics in the Maldives, a tiny Indian Ocean nation...
Beth | 24 Jun 2011 | http://www....
Delegates from the Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, La Reunion and Comoros gathered in Mauritius this week with airlines serving the region now called the “Vanilla Islands,” to take stock of the situation on hand and to discuss the way forward. The meeting was co-chaired by the Mauritian Minister for Tourism&Leisure, Mr. Nandcoomar Bodha and the President of the Region–La Reunion, Mr. Didier Robert, and assisted by Dr. Karl Mootoosamy, the Director of the MTPA of...
admin | 03 May 2011 | http://greenanswers...
On Ile aux Aigrettes, an island off of the coast of Mauritius, scientists introduced the Aldabra giant tortoises to try and revive the island’s dying ecosystem.  Before humans reached the Ile aux Aigrettes, the island was full of tortoises, skinks, and dodo birds.  The disappearance of these animals devastated the ecosystem, especially the native ebony trees that were already being cut up for firewood.  The giant tortoises, who can reach up to 661 pounds, were introduced...
elena | 02 May 2011
In 2010, the Seychelles presented their Third National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. All sustainable development policy in the Seychelles is guided by the National Environmental Management Plan. The previous Plan covered 2000-2010, and a new management plan is currently being formulated. Since the establishment of the first permanent human settlement in 1770, the native forests of the Seychelles have undergone dramatic structural changes. Many of these changes are due to...
elena | 02 May 2011
The Seychelles Government has released Strategy 2017: Creating Our Nation’s Wealth Together, a strategy that aims to double the country’s GDP by 2017, highlighting the importance of tourism in achieving this. The Seychelles Eco-Tourism Strategy for the 21st Century (SETS-21) was introduced in 2003 and is currently being implemented. The tourism sector is the largest contributor to GDP, but, like the other important sector of fisheries, it is heavily reliant on the quality of the...