Protecting Seychelles environment tough challenge

By Richard Lough

VICTORIA (Reuters) - Getting the right balance between development and protecting the environment presents small island states with a tough challenge which cannot be ignored, the Seychelles' president said.

A rising population and the growing demands of the tourism industry are putting a strain on the Indian Ocean islands' environment which is home to scores of birds, reptiles and plants native to the Seychelles.

"It's not an easy balance to maintain. There is always a lot of pressure from developers who want to go big, who want to maximise their revenue and make a lot of profit," President James Michel told Reuters late Friday.

Speaking at State House, a grand colonial mansion set against the tropical forest-clad mountains of Mahe island, Michel said stringent policies to safeguard the environment had hitherto stopped the islands' being bulldozered into oblivion.

"We have ensured that the industry has not entered the mass tourism sector which would affect the country negatively," he said, adding that some islands in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean had been "practically destroyed" by cheap holiday packages.

The Seychelles archipelago covers more than 1.3 million square km (500,000 square miles) of the Western Indian Ocean although total land area is 455 square km.

The country has a strong track-record for protecting its environment. In 1990, it became the first African country to draw up a 10-year environmental management plan and the archipelago has the highest proportion of protected land in the world -- more than 50 percent of its total area.

LUXURY VILLA BOOM