LA DIGUE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

With just 2,800 people, La Digue is the Seychelles’ third-most populated island, and the kind of place where traffic, in the form of bicycles and oxcarts, stops to let its beloved giant tortoises cross the streets. With most of the population, and resorts, focused around La Digue’s sheltered west coast, those who truly want to get away from it all take a 30-minute ride through its jungle-clad interior to get to the wild beach of Grand Anse, and its sister beach, Petite Anse, a short hop over the hill.

Meaning ‘large cove’ in French, as with many beaches on the southern side of the island, there is no coral reef here – it is said the early colonialists once harvested coral lime from off these shores, leading to their decline – so the waters of Grande Anse are often too deep and the currents too strong to swim. While this might make it a surfer’s paradise, without the protection of a reef, Indian Ocean swells bring millions of pieces of microplastic broken down from larger pieces of trash on their journey with the waves to La Digue. 

PLASTIC IN THE SEYCHELLES

The Seychelles are known to have some of the cleanest waters in the world, due in no small part to a 2017 campaign to ban single-use plastic and bags initiated by the country’s youth – including the then-teenage sisters and future Parley coordinators Jessica, Alvania and Nathalia Lawen. Nevertheless, as a developing archipelago nation of 155 islands with little waste infrastructure, the country faces the challenges of local and tourist industry waste. On more isolated beaches, islands and atolls lying in the sphere of monsoon and trade winds, studies have shown that trash washes ashore from as far away as mainland Asia and Africa.

The Seychelles also suffer from the particular problem of marine debris in the form of ghost fishing nets and other cast-offs from industrial fishing vessels such as purse seiners, trawlers and factory ships – many of which are from the European Union – which congregate around the incredibly rich, biodiverse waters of this tropical island nation. 

PARADISE PROTECTED

Your support directly funds the protection of this unique place in two ways. Working with Parley and our partners in the Seychelles, you are making it possible to intercept plastic waste on Grand Anse and upcycle some of it. You’re also supporting education and infrastructure projects to reduce plastic at source – an essential part of our mission in La Digue and beyond. 

WELCOME TO THE MOVEMENT

Your sunglasses are just the beginning of the Clean Waves journey. In the months ahead, we’ll take you to La Digue and other islands around the world through exclusive content and reports of how your support helps us protect these fragile marine ecosystems from plastic pollution.

It's great to have you onboard.