EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL VIII DEVELOPMENT Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries - Linking National and International Efforts EC-FAO PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (1998-2002) Tropical forestry Budget line B7-6201/97-15/VIII/FOR PROJECT GCP/INT/679/EC Woodfuel review and assessment in Seychelles By Helda Antoine Ministry of Environment and Transport Division of Environment May, 2000 Mahe, Seychelles This report has been produced as an out put of the EC-FAO Partnership Programme (1998-2002) - Project GCP/INT/679/EC Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries - Linking National and International Efforts. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the EC or the FAO. This paper has been minimally edited for clarity and style 1 Table of contents: Table of contents:..............................................................................................................2 Country Background........................................................................................................ 3 1. The trend in the use of fuelwood consumption ...................................................... 3 1.1. Forestry Situation in Seychelles...............................................................................3 1.1.1. Forest area.......................................................................................................3 1.2. Present Review of the existing data related to woodfuel (fuelwood and charcoal)...........................................................................................................................5 1.2.1. Charcoal ..........................................................................................................5 II. Analysis if the past, present and foreseeable trend of woodfuels, its supply, demand, consumption and trade in the context of local sub-national and national level. .............................................................................................................6 III. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 8 Literature consulted.......................................................................................................... 9 2 Country Background The Republic of Seychelles comprises a group of 115 islands located in the Western Indian Ocean between 4 and 11 degrees South of the equator. Its land area is 45 500 ha. 41 islands are granitic and they include the so-called inner islands, of which Mahe (15500 ha), Praslin (3,800 ha) and La Digue (1 000 ha) are the most important ones. All the granitic islands are situated within a distance of 50 km from Mahe. The rest of the islands are coralline, raising only a few metres above the sea level. The Climate is equatorial with an average annual rainfall of 2 200 mm. Humidity is uniformly high at an average of 80% and mean temperature ranges from 24 to 30ºC. The prevailing winds are the Northwest (December to March) and Southeast (May to October) monsoons. 1. The trend in the use of fuelwood consumption The report describes a situation dominated by fuelwood and an overall rapid consumption reduction contrary to the report provided by S. Amous. The reason is as follows: In 1981, the National Youth Service (NYS) was launched where more than 2000 students have to undertake a two-year service in the institution. This institution constituted the major source of fuelwood consumption mainly to cook food for the 2000 students per year. From 1982-1989, the number of students joining the NYS kept increasing and so did the fuelwood consumption. It was in 1992, that the fuelwood consumption decreased and this correlated to the phasing out of one year in the NYS. The use of fuel wood decreased gradually, as fewer students were joining the institution and in 1998, the NYS was phased out completely and the use of fuel wood consumption decreased dramatically. 1.1. Forestry Situation in Seychelles The Forestry Section within the Division of Environment under the Ministry of Environment and Transport is responsible for the controlling and management of the forest resources of the country. 1.1.1. Forest area No systematic forest inventories have been carried out in Seychelles and the available data are limited to a study by P.T. Henry (1976), which can be considered outdated. Based on aerial photo interpretation and field checking done by INDUFOR Oy in 1993, it is estimated that the forest area of Mahe, Praslin, Curieuse, La Digue and Silhouette islands is 17 600 ha. The outer islands of Seychelles are estimated to have additional 23 000 ha of forests of which nearly 15 000 ha are within National Parks or other protected areas. It should be noted that according to INDUFOR Oy this might be an overestimation. 3 Table: 1.1.1 Forest Area Island Total Area Forest Area Of which in Plantations (ha) (ha) (ha) National Parks (ha) Mahe 15 470 11 740 2 980 410 Praslin 3 760 2 970 330 50 Curieuse 290 290 290 20 La Digue 1 010 760 30 0 Silhouette 2 000 1 840 0 0 Others 23 010 23 000 14 810 4 400 Total 45 540 40 600 18 440 4 880 The total area of forestland on Mahe is 11, 740 ha of which 2,980 ha are located inside the Morne Seychelles National Park. The Park also includes 100 ha of forest plantations originally established for production purposes. Total area of Mahe is 15 470 which means that the island’s forest coverage is 76%. Forestland on Praslin and Curieuse add up to 3,260 ha. 11% of the forests are within the Praslin National Park. La Digue Island has 760 ha of forestland. Silhouette is mostly covered by vegetation of which 1,840 ha is classified as forestland. The bulk (4 400 ha) of the estimated plantation area (4 880 ha) is on “other islands”. The amount of plantations on “other island” may be a gross over-estimate, but the situation could not have been checked, as field visits to the outer islands were not possible because of their remoteness and distance to the main islands. The above-mentioned plantation area of the “other islands” is assumed to contain largely non-planted Casuarina forests. It is estimated that the forest area is 40, 600 ha, i.e. 90% of the land area. Most of the forests are natural but there are a few plantations, including Casuarina (Casuarina equisitifolia), which cover about 4, 800 ha. About 25% of the plantations that have been established are for protection purposes, e.g. stabilisation of the reclaimed land such as the Casuarina equisitifolia (40 ha) rather than for fuelwood consumption. More than 45% of the forests are within the National Parks or other conservation areas. The economic importance of the forestry sector is perceived as marginal. The Sectoral GDP contribution, including wood industries is no more than 0.4% (1990) but it has been increasing during the last few years. The Value Added in the sectoral gross output is significantly higher than in the economy on average. This adds to the justification of utilisation of forest resources in a sustainable way for meeting the country’s internal demand. The wood production has not been able to respond to the growing needs of raw materials in the processing industries, which is reflected in the increasing import dependency. 4 However, the indirect economic and environmental benefits of the sector are considerable. The amenity provided by the forests is important for the tourism industry. The vulnerable water supply is highly dependent on the vegetation cover provided by the forests. 1.2. Present Review of the existing data related to woodfuel (fuelwood and charcoal) Over the last 20 years the Ex-National Youth Service (NYS) 1981-1998 used to be a major fuelwood user as food in the student villages (over 1000 students in the villages per year) was cooked by using fuelwood. The substantial consumption (estimated at about 3 500- 4 000 m3) was largely met by Casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia) trees supplied from Desroches Island by the Island Development Company (IDC). In 1998, the National Youth Service was phased out and production of fuelwood from the island also ceased because the market no longer existed. Some traditional bakeries still bake bread using fuelwood but however, the number is continuously declining because of the cost involve to harvest the wood from the forest and also because of the procedures impose by the government regarding the felling of trees. Another reason is that the tradition is also dying and bread is now being baked in electric and gas oven. Still today, on Mahe there are about 7 of such bakeries still using fuelwood for the business and on average they are consuming 75 m3 /year of fuelwood. 1.2.1. Charcoal The annual production is estimated to be 50 tons per year. The main users produced their own charcoal using wood from their property that borders forest areas or from the state forests. Charcoal is produced in the forest areas using logging waste and a permit is needed to carry out this activity. The sawmill at Grand Anse converts part of its production waste into charcoal. Charcoal is also produced on some of the outer Coraline Islands such as on Desroches Island and on some other islands managed by the Island Development Company (IDC). A few hotels and restaurants also produce their own charcoal for their barbecue. It is estimated that the hotels and restaurants consume 40 tons of charcoal annually. The use of charcoal in hotel and restaurant establishment is slowly diminishing as the hotels and restaurants