OPENING EYES ON THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACH IN THE WORLD

WE GO ON A FIELD TRIP WITH STUDENTS FROM LA DIGUE SCHOOL IN THE SEYCHELLES TO SCOPE OUT ANSE SOURCE D’ARGENT, INTERCEPTING ALMOST 100KG OF PLASTIC ON THE WAY

With its iconic granite boulders, shallow turquoise waters and herds of giant tortoises roaming freely in the lush vegetation beyond, Anse Source D’Argent on the island of La Digue in the Seychelles is postcard perfect — no wonder it’s said to be the most photographed beach in the world, though we’re not sure by what metric.

But speaking of metrics, as one of the Seychelles’ Inner Islands, the waters surrounding La Digue are an oasis of life, home to 1,000 species of fish, 25 marine mammals – including eight different dolphins – and five sea turtle species. As below, so above: Sitting nearly 1,000 miles off the coast of East Africa, the variety of life on land and in the skies is equally stunning, with 200 species of birds, including the glossy and appropriately named Paradise Flycatcher, found nowhere else in the world.

In fact, up until its ‘discovery’ by European merchant navies, it is estimated that 60 percent of all the species in the Seychelles were endemic. Today, at the last count, La Digue is home to 3,934 humans, 675 hotel rooms, and one school. And as you would no doubt be happy to hear, La Digue school takes its biome very seriously, with environmental activism appearing both on and off the syllabus.

So, it didn’t take much persuading for 30 of the students to join Parley’s country coordinators for the Seychelles, Jessica and Alvania Lawen, for a talk exploring Parley’s AIR (Avoid. Intercept. Redesign) Strategy, followed by an eight-minute bicycle ride across the car-free island to the beautiful Anse Source D’argent for a sweep of the beach.

“just from looking you would never have guessed there was this much trash on the beach”

At first glance, other than a discarded dinghy, trash on the beach appeared elusive – Anse Source D’argent is situated on the west coast of the island, and so is sheltered from the currents that cross the Indian Ocean, delivering millions of pieces of microplastic to the wild beaches of Grand and Petit Anse in the east. But after close inspection of the coves and caves between the granite boulders and behind the swaying coconut palms lining the perfect sands, our students collected 195kg of material. Ninety-six kilograms of this was plastic, most likely discarded by tourists from the nearby resorts and day-trippers from Mahe, the country’s most populated island, a short ferry ride away. 

As one excited student put it, “Miss zanmen ou tya dir I annan tousala lo lans en,” which roughly translates to ‘Miss, just from looking you would never have guessed there was this much trash on the beach.’ It’s not the first time the Lawen sisters, who successfully campaigned to ban plastic bags across the country’s 155 islands in their teens, have heard this after opening the eyes of their fellow Seychellois.