The Barachois, a one-meter-deep saltwater body close to the dining facilities that is currently home to more than 200 herbivore and omnivore fish, will house a seagrass nursery, making Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita the first resort in the Indian Ocean to do so!
The Odysseo Foundation, a local trust that creates marine conservation initiatives in Mauritius, is currently in charge of the Blue Carbon Ecosystems Project: Restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems, which includes this program. The Varuna Program, which is run by Expertise France and funded by the French government through l’Agence Française du Développement (AFD), includes the project as part of the Fonds Business Biodiversité Océan Indien (FBBOI). It is carried out in collaboration with the Association pour le développement durable, Attitude Foundation and Foundation Solidarité Eclosia, which manage conservation projects in the Indian Ocean and around the world.
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The Seagrass Nursery is an experimental project that attempts to restore the seagrass meadows in the marine area surrounding the resort, according to Rick-Ernest Bonnier, the Resort Ocean Environment Manager. “To establish a seagrass nursery in the resort’s Barachois, both seeds and transplants will be gathered from the wild.
An Odysseo lab will be used to germinate the seeds, and the grown seedlings will then be moved to the resort’s Barachois until they reach adulthood. In order to restore seagrass meadows and provide a healthy environment for marine life, including fish, turtles, seahorses, rays and more, we intend to grow healthy seagrasses.”
Data from in-depth analyses of the resort’s own Barachois water quality and sediment revealed that certain seagrass species, including Syringodium isoetifolium and Halodule uninervis, thrive there. A group of scientists and marine biologists will be gathering seeds from the wild and delivering them to the Odysseo lab for the nursery. After that, the seeds will be provided with the ideal physical conditions for germination, including light, salinity, sediment and temperature. The seagrass plants will be relocated and planted in the resort’s Barachois once they are sufficiently robust.
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