ABSTRACT
The Seychelles is a small island state of 115 islands spread over an exclusive economic zone covering an area of 1.37 million square kilometres in the Indian Ocean. They share characteristics with other small island states that, in the judgement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), make small islands especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, sea-level rise and extreme events (Mimura et al, 2007). With a total land area of just 455.3 square kilometres, most of the population, infrastructure and economic activities of the Seychelles are concentrated on the coasts of three large islands. These islands are among the granitic group of 43 islands with mountainous peaks that rise steeply and constrain development to the very narrow 1 to 2km-wide coastal plains. The people and infrastructure that are concentrated in these coastal plains are highly vulnerable to storm surges and coastal erosion. The economy is heavily dependent on tourism and, to a lesser extent, on fisheries, both of which have their main infrastructure located in the exposed coastal plains and are dependent on natural resources such as coral reefs and freshwater supplies that are sensitive to climate variations, sea-level rise and other stressors.
