1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
Deforestation and global warming are two of the main drivers of biodiversity loss in Mauritius. With less than 2% of its native vegetation surviving, Mauritius is one of the countries that sustained the greatest loss of biodiversity with the remnants counting among the most threatened in the World. At its own local scale, the proposed project aimed at contributing towards addressing these two most serious forms of environmental degradation by recreating a native woodland, while at the same time helping establish new populations of rare or threatened native and endemic plants and restoring damaged or lost ecosystem services. More precisely the project addressed the following:
1. To re-instate a native plant cover on the flanks of the Petite Montagne.
2. To reintroduce native plants, respecting the national historical heritage.
3. To create a public green metropolitan area in the heart of the capital city for leisure.
4. To help build awareness about Mauritius' unique biodiversity, notoriously one of the most threatened in the world.
5. To re-constitute populations of native and endemic species which once existed on the Petite Montagne but was destroyed by humans.
6. To reduce soil erosion (causing landslides), desertification as well as the direct risks posed to people and property by sporadic fires that sweep through the Petite Montagne slopes every year, by replacing a fire prone open savannah-like community of alien plants with a non-fire prone shady native grass or woodland. (1,2,5)
1. To re-instate a native plant cover on the flanks of the Petite Montagne.
2. To reintroduce native plants, respecting the national historical heritage.
3. To create a public green metropolitan area in the heart of the capital city for leisure.
4. To help build awareness about Mauritius' unique biodiversity, notoriously one of the most threatened in the world.
5. To re-constitute populations of native and endemic species which once existed on the Petite Montagne but was destroyed by humans.
6. To reduce soil erosion (causing landslides), desertification as well as the direct risks posed to people and property by sporadic fires that sweep through the Petite Montagne slopes every year, by replacing a fire prone open savannah-like community of alien plants with a non-fire prone shady native grass or woodland. (1,2,5)
Quantitative targets
Creating a green area of approx. 3 hectares
Introducing over 1300 endemic and indigenous plants
Involving approx 300 volunteers/year
Concerning directly and indirectly approx. 147,000 people
Achieving a quota of 35 m2/capita of green space (2,3,5)
Introducing over 1300 endemic and indigenous plants
Involving approx 300 volunteers/year
Concerning directly and indirectly approx. 147,000 people
Achieving a quota of 35 m2/capita of green space (2,3,5)
Monitoring indicators defined
Size of area covered
No of people involved
No of species of plants introduced in the new habitat
No of people benefiting from the intervention
Green space per capita (2,3,5)
No of people involved
No of species of plants introduced in the new habitat
No of people benefiting from the intervention
Green space per capita (2,3,5)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Implementation activities
The intervention was designed very early, in 2006 and was implemented in stages that depended heavily of funding capacities. The pilot project at La Citadelle was launched after a mini-study was undertaken on the site in order to trace a more or less faithful diagram of the original vegetation of the site. Between 2010 and 2012 the project was supported with a small grant from the UN. In 2017 the organisation with the help of volunteers was able to plant in 1 day 2444 plants. The organisers usually expect around 300 volunteers per year, from November to April, when implementing any action. Meetings were organised with the mayor of Port Louis and the representatives of the Lions Club of Curepipe and the Rotary Club Citadel to help with awareness activities and to involve the community, mainly local schools. (2,3)
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
I consider this a process innovation mostly because when implementing it the NGO wanted to plant indigenous species found on the citadel in the 19th century. As they had no information which plants existed in the 19th century they tried to make a comparative study of this site with another (the mountain of Le Morne) with similar climatic conditions. This is how they were able to identify some 87 endemic plant species that potentially existed around the Fort at the time. (2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The hill where the citadel is located is quite a large area and the initiative aims at restoring the entire hill not only the surroundings of the citadel. Work is in progress and as said prior it is dependent on financial capacities. (2,3)
