Conservation, development and the blue frontier: the Republic of Seychelles’ Debt Restructuring for Marine Conservation and Climate Adaptation Program

Silver, Jennifer J.; Campbell, Lisa M.

doi:10.1111/issj.12156

Cited by 50 publications

(45 citation statements)

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“…Driven forward by the leadership of its former president, in 2015 Seychelles established a Department for Blue Economy (Seychelles Nation 2015). Through a debt-for-nature swap and the creation of the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT), Seychelles has begun to translate the Blue Economy message into practice (Seychelles State House 2015; Silver and Campbell 2018). In many ways, the debt swap, and a consequent obligation to put 30% of Seychelles' EEZ under protection, has enabled the materialization of the Blue Economy.…”

Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of these factors might help explain why Seychelles has embraced the Blue Economy so vigorously, presenting itself as a pioneer not only to other island states, but also to international donors that are committed to environmental and climate change concerns. Indeed it has been argued that "the [debt] Swap is a product of, and inseparable from, a much longer geopolitical and political-economic history of SIDS, economic globalisation, debt and 'sustainable development'" (Silver and Campbell 2018: 2).…”

Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This shows the desire for Seychelles to steer the Blue Economy locally. It has been able to do so, for example through the debt-fornature swap that was finalized in 2015 and which was presented by Seychelles in the context of SIDS EEZs as a new frontier -a way of framing that attracts attention from NGOs, but also investors (Silver and Campbell 2018).…”

Section: I-06]mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Networking the Blue Economy in Seychelles: pioneers, resistance, and the power of influence

Schutter

Hicks

2019

Journal of Political Ecology

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The Blue Economy has gained traction as a key concept that seeks to stem biodiversity loss whilst stimulating economic development, thereby integrating environmental and economic interests. Although the Blue Economy builds on the more familiar Green Economy, academic critique is still emerging and can be slow to translate into changes in policy and practice. What the Blue Economy means to national and local policy makers and practioners is seldom explored, and specificity is lacking on how the triple bottom line of economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social equity can be attained. This article explores these issues in one of the pioneering nations promoting the Blue Economy -the Republic of Seychelles -to establish a) how policy makers and practitioners in Seychelles perceive the Blue Economy b) what perspectives influence the concept; and c) who stands to gain or lose from its implementation. Seychelles has a unique position in Africa, due to its remote location in the Indian Ocean, its political history, and its pioneering role in promoting the Blue Economy: it presents itself as a leader for Africa in this respect. Using a combination of interviews and Q-methodology, we identify three perspectives on the Blue Economy in the country. Policymakers and practitioners are either: supportive in principle, critical in practice; pragmatic and accepting; or idealistic. These three perspectives capture the interpretations of those tasked with enacting the Blue Economy, but many of the perspectives present in international discourse are not present in the country, and indeed elements of them are met with resistance. Drawing on a social network analysis we find that the critical perspective is most influential in terms of information, both with government and non-government actors. However, the pragmatic and accepting perspective is more influential in terms of resource allocation, indicating a lack of resources could hamper actions by the actors that would like to see change. RésuméL'économie bleue est devenue un concept fondamental qui vise à enrayer la perte de biodiversité tout en stimulant le développement économique et en intégrant ainsi les intérêts environnementaux et économiques. Bien que l'économie bleue s'appuie sur l'économie verte, qui est plus familière, des critiques continuent d'émerger et peuvent tarder à se traduire en changements de politique et de pratique. Ce que l'économie bleue signifie pour les décideurs et les praticiens nationaux et locaux est rarement exploré, et il manque des spécificités sur la manière d'atteindre le triple résultat de la croissance économique, de la durabilité environnementale et de l'équité sociale. Cet article explore ces questions dans l'un des pays pionniers promouvant l'économie bleue -la République des Seychelles -afin d'établir a) comment les décideurs et les praticiens aux Seychelles perçoivent l'économie bleue; b) quelles perspectives influencent le concept; c) qui est gagnant ou perdant de sa mise en oeuvre. Les Seychelles occupent une position unique...

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Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: I-06]mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Networking the Blue Economy in Seychelles: pioneers, resistance, and the power of influence

Schutter

Hicks

2019

Journal of Political Ecology

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“…For SIDs in Africa, the blue economy centers the ocean as a key motor for development by foregrounding its physical extent and properties (Silver et al 2015). These qualities, in part, provide the physical geographic basis for policy initiatives such as the 'debtfor-nature' swaps currently being promoted by the Republic of Seychelles (Schutter and Hicks 2019;Silver et al 2018). These sorts of policies can be read as a biodiversity conversation familiar to environmental governance strategies in landed contexts (Kay 2018;Sullivan 2013), yet here it is one attuned to the ocean.…”

Section: Securing Africa's Blue Economy In Space and Timementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, what are the political implications for scripting and 'securing' oceans and water as part of an economic imaginary of 'progress' and 'growth', and of separating it from landed 'green' economies'? As the 'blue' (like the 'green') is reworked spatially into a language of new 'frontiers' (Silver and Campbell 2018), 'opportunities' and 'alternative sustainabilities' (Cavanagh and Benjaminsen 2017), what new political ecologies might exist? What (new) ways of 'knowing' the ocean are either hidden, marginalized or revealed by framing and militarizing the 'blue' as something to be 'protected'?…”

Section: Introduction: Mobilizing the Blue Economy In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Securing the blue: political ecologies of the blue economy in Africa

Childs

Hicks

2019

Journal of Political Ecology

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The Blue Economy concept is being embraced enthusiastically in Africa, both internally and externally. However, this new framing creates and calls for new understandings of how actors and places relate to one another, control, and create meaning and value. Thus, understanding the ocean - and its conceptual and material fabric - in this context, is a matter of political ecology, raising a number of questions that extend across geographies, spatio-temporalities, and political actors, both human and more-than-human. In this article, we flesh out these questions. An understanding of historical efforts to legally secure oceanic space can help contextualize the emergent African blue economy, one which we propose rests predominantly on the notion of 'security.' We demonstrate how resources are economically, environmentally, and politically 'secured' as they are first constructed as economic objects of accumulation, then militarized as matters of geopolitical security, and finally controlled through technologies of monitoring, surveillance, and resistance. The 'security' of the blue growth agenda and its effects operates across different temporal and spatial dimensions and are realized in different ways across the continent as explored in the six articles in this Special Section.Keywords: blue economy, deep sea mining, political ecology, oceanic space, security

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