Seychelles MSP Initiative - Marine Spatial Plan draft v1 document review

Dear SMSP Committee Members, stakeholders and Seychelles public,

On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, thank you for your interest to review and provide feedback on the draft Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan. The Ministry, with assistance from the SMSP core team, will be reviewing and addressing all comments pertaining to the draft Marine Spatial Plan document.

Instructions for Providing a Review:
PDF version - click here

The draft SMSP Plan version 1 is being presented for stakeholder and public review for a 28-day period for the purposes of review and feedback or comments. Stakeholder and Public Review is a necessary final step in global best practices for completing a Marine Spatial Plan. There are a few final discussions to have as the government leads the SMSP into implementation. Most of the contents of the Plan are completed and approved. The zoning design and Allowable Activities Tables, for example, are final and approved by the Executive Committee.

During the workshops on 19th and 20th Feb, the SMSP core team will lead several discussions including on the periodic review of the Plan in the future and how new uses & activities are added to the zoning designs and tables. Having a plan that is adaptable and revised has been a guiding principle for Seychelles.

The stakeholder and public review are primarily for Chapters 4 – Implementation and Chapter 5 – Monitoring & Evaluation. The SMSP is awaiting government decision on the governance mechanism to sign the MSP into law, but this is unlikely to be a stakeholder discussion at the workshop, as these views have already been provided.

The document finalisation will be supported by a professional proofreader and copy editor, so we are not looking for wordsmithing. However, please make suggestions or comments if sections of the Plan are not clearly worded.

Please provide your name and contact information. Brief information is requested about your participation in the SMSP process. All questions with an asterisk (*) require an answer or response.
Please provide your comments by Chapter and by line number. Feedback on each chapter is optional.

NOTE: This draft Plan is not for distribution or publication and is subject to discussion and approvals. This draft Plan cannot be cited or used for any other purposes until finalised and approved. All comments and feedback are confidential and will be securely stored and summarized as per SMSP protocols for stakeholder engagement, meaning individuals or names will not be attributed to comments in public documents.

Feedback is due by Monday 10 March 2025 at 11:59 PM Seychelles.

Thank you very much for your time to review the draft Plan.
Ministry Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE) and SMSP core team.