As part of the #EUBeachCleanup campaign 2019, the Delegation has carried out a series of activities in Mauritius and Seychelles:

• Raising awareness of 100 children in a primary school in Mauritius and a secondary school in Seychelles on the importance of oceans and the dangers they are facing. We distributed t-shirts and educational material featuring the Smurfs, our blue allies for the #EUBeachCleanup campaign this year.

• Organisation of the #EUBeachCleanup on 16 October on the west coast of Mauritius. 40 participants from the EU Member States, various diplomatic missions, the Tourism Authority, the National Coast Guards and hotels participated in the clean-up in two sites: at the public beach of Tamarin and on the coastal road in Albion. Moreover,  the EU Ambassador and seven divers also cleaned-up the lagoon: within 40 minutes, they had collected 21 kg of various marine waste: cans, plastic bottles, fishing lines and anchors. Together all the participants collected and sorted over 150 kilos of waste: plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles and even a sofa!

• Organisation of a round table on the importance of sustainable tourism, the protection of the sea and the fight against marine pollution with representatives from the tourism sector (hotels and inbound operators), the Mauritius Scuba Diving Association, the National Coast Guards and non-governmental organisations. During the round table, the EU Ambassador, Vincent Degert gave a presentation of the EU ambitious legislation to reduce single-use plastic items. Various speakers Veranda Tamarin Hotel, the Mauritius Tourism Authority, We-Recycle and the Mauritius Scuba Diving Association talked about their initiatives. One of those initiatives is the SUS Island project, funded by the EU under the Switch Africa Green programme. Under this project, a lot is being done to sensitise and train the stakeholders of the whole value chain (tour operators, taxi drivers, etc.) and contribute to transforming Mauritius into a green destination. 

• At the end of the event, participants agreed to explore the opportunity to adopt a "Charter to protect the seas" to guide their actions in the future.