SEYCHELLES CELEBRATE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF MORNE NATIONAL PARK ON MAHE
(Posted 12th June 2014)
Seychelles National Parks yesterday celebrated the 35th anniversary of the official launch of the Morne Seychellois National Park in the heart of the archipelago’s largest island, Mahe. Measuring over 3.000 hectares, which represents nearly 20 percent of the island’s landmass, is the park centered around the Seychelles’ highest mountain, also called Morne, which reaches 905 metres above sea level.
The Morne Seychellois National Park today offers visitors a range of hiking trails through the virgin tropical rainforest, which when navigated with an experienced guide, offer amazing insights into the biodiversity of flora and fauna of the Seychelles.
The park is also home to what might become the Seychelles first ever UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site, the Mission Lodge or Venns’ Town, where children of freed slaves were able to receive education, a revolutionary concept in those days.
The Seychelles government through the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has applied to UNESCO for recognition of this site, which has been spruced up in recent years to provide visitors with a much more comprehensive understanding of the site and its purpose. The preservation of the site was generously supported by the regional government of the Ile de la Reunion with the project being launched at last year’s Festival Kreol, when the President of the Regional Council Didier Robert in the presence of the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St. Ange and other government officials launched a range of projects across Mahe, all aimed to provide the present generation of Seychellois as well as visitors with a glimpse into the past of the archipelago.
Over 50 percent of the Seychelles is now officially protected as terrestrial or marine national parks, nature reserves and bird sanctuaries, with several smaller islands entirely dedicated to giving endangered bird species a safe habitat.
This makes the Seychelles a global conservation leader, one of the many reasons why more and more visitors from abroad come to the archipelago to enjoy intact nature and the clean crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean with an abundance of underwater marine life. Seychelles, truly Another World.
For more information about the destination click on www.seychelles.travel
