The Seychelles Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean, consisting of 115 islands. The main island is Mahe, on the northern part of the island, is found Cap Ternay (refer to Mahe map).

There is no direct coastal road access to go there, it consist of mangrove areas and a bay, called Baie Ternay, which is one of the seven Marine Parks of the Seychelles. Designated on the 11^th June, 1979 and it is 0.80km².

This park retains its exclusivity and natural beauty, a combination of coastal habitats: mangrove, sandy shores, rocky shores, sea grass beds and coral reefs. This area is also great for spotting whale sharks (during season), dolphins, rays (sting rays / Eagle rays) and juvenile seas turtles. Baie Ternay Marine Park offers a view of the highest peak of the Seychelles, Morne Seychellois, which is 905 metres and also a National Park.

Proposal of a hotel development at Cap Ternay was incepted in 2007 the hotel proposal was brought forward by Dubai-based Emirates group. The hotel was planned to be the largest hotel in Seychelles, with a total of 421 ROOMS, an estimated cost of $253million!!!!!

?The main resort area, featuring two beaches, will be set around landscaped gardens, swimming pools, and water features. It will be surrounded by the tropical forests and streams of the Morne Seychelloise National Park, and the spectacular rock formations of Cap Matoopa?. Source: http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/our-vision-values/future-projects/cap-ternay-resort-and-spa.aspx

Not only we?re they planning to have one of the largest swimming pools in the Indian Ocean, but they also wanted to build a Marina in the Marine Park itself!

The Seychelles Government decided to have a Public Meeting to listen to what the citizens had to say and most we?re against the development. The Government then asked the Emirates Group to come up with another proposal which this time involved dredging in the Marine Park. The general public was still against it, but the government did not bother.

Marc Hoareau, a Seychellois business man, had heard of the project a while back and started a petition to try to convince the President and the Ministries to not go forth with the project. The petition received over 3,000 signatures from all over the world.

Cap Ternay was once a ?College site?, National Youth Service (NYS), where students at the age of 14+ would go for further studies or learning vocational work (e.g. Masonry, Carpenter, Engineering, Mechanics..). The NYS then closed down in November 1998 due to some issues that we?re going on, involving politics. The area then became abandoned.

The area then became a part of Global Vision International (GVI). GVI, through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development. GVI was based in both Cap Ternay and Curieuse Island, where it has surveyed 18 reefs every three months for the last eight years! As well as conducting plankton tows, turtle monitoring, whale shark observations and so much more. The data collected by GVI Seychelles is used by Government organisations and is the main contribution from the region to the biannual publication of ?The Sate of Coral Reefs of The Indian Ocean?.

GVI and other NGOs sent their research and findings of Baie Ternay to the President, to try to convience him how prescious Cap Ternay / Baie Ternay really is!

Anyhow, GVI was recently asked to evacuate the area at Cap Ternay so that they could start the construction of the massive hotel. But the good news is, on the 26^th February, President James Alix Michel in his State of Nation Address, said that he will not allow the development to go on! This was great but shocking news. The issue now is that the opposition party is using this for politics since the election is approaching, saying that the President changed his mind because of the election.

 

What do you think?

 

More information can be found on following sites:

http://gviseychelles.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Service_%28Seychelles%29