On June 26th, Casela, in collaboration with Cap Business Océan Indien, hosted its first Biodiversity Workshop, bringing together key players actively engaged in biodiversity conservation initiatives in Mauritius and the region. Climate change advocates, researchers, private sector companies, NGOs, and government representatives gathered to share, discuss, and learn from each other around the theme “Achieving a Nature-Positive Future.”
The workshop addressed the critical need for sustained dialogue and collaborative efforts between active stakeholders to accelerate initiatives and scale impact. Key discussions focused on facilitating stakeholder exchange to identify and overcome obstacles in restoration practices and exploring strategic partnerships to drive coordinated actions for biodiversity conservation.
While there were many takeaways from this first session, we would like to share some key insights we believe can be instrumental to the biodiversity conservation agenda:
- Bridging with academic experts for a science-based approach to restoration projects.
- Recognizing the need to support restoration projects throughout their lifecycle, including preservation and monitoring over time, which are too often overlooked.
- Establishing a centralized structure to facilitate and support restoration and conservation projects, including authorisations and permits.
- Rethinking development models to ensure biodiversity considerations are integrated on-site and not just in hotspots
This workshop was our first step in creating bridges between stakeholders. At the end of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to engage with our endemic garden, an initiative which provided with a first-hand experience of Casela’s commitment to increasing accessibility and awareness of endemic species and their conservation needs.
We would like to thank Cap Business Océan Indien and all participants for their invaluable contributions. The energy and enthusiasm during the event were truly inspiring.
We look forward to continuing this journey and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in our upcoming workshops. Stay tuned for future events as we work together to drive impactful biodiversity conservation efforts.
