A Pristine and Eco-Friendly Island

Rodrigues, like many other Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as cyclones, droughts, flash floods and to the adverse effects of climate change. However, over the years, the Rodriguan population has built up an adaptive capacity while steadily championing a way out through sustainable conservation principles and innovative practices. During our exploration journey across the ‘stress-free island’, we confirmed that the Rodriguan people were very concerned about leaving a greening legacy to the younger generation.

The cleanliness of the island was apparent while we drove from Plaine Corail Airport to Port Mathurin, via the coastline roads. No plastic bags or bottles along roadsides or coastlines nor heavy smoke coming from vehicles. Instead, we had stunning views of pristine beaches and mangrove plantations. Approximately 40 hectares of mangrove plantations protects the island’s coastal areas, preserving the marine ecosystem and sustaining livelihood activities of the local fishermen. Rodrigues island was among the first SIDS to ban single-use plastic bags in 2014 and following the success of the initiative, the Rodrigues Regional Assembly, in collaboration with the local population, came up with several actions to reduce plastic waste on the island, with the most notable ones being the banning of plastic flowers and polystyrene food packs.

Rodrigues Island is also leading by example with sustainable actions such as the voluntary closure of the octopus fishery since 2012, the promotion of rainwater harvesting facilities for low-income households and increasing its renewable energy share by 2030. These actions are gradually steering successful returns to the island, with a cleaner and rejuvenated environment, a responsible and eco-conscious population and higher international eco-tourism marketability and visibility.

When Tourists Won’t Come?

In 2019, the Rodriguan tourism industry was thriving, and the island welcomed nearly 78,000 tourists, almost double of its population size, and had 220 registered tourism enterprises with the Rodrigues Tourism Office. The symbiosis between the tourism sector and the other economic pillars of the Rodriguan society, such as agriculture and fishing, were highly visible and encouraged by the local authorities. Like many other SIDS, Rodrigues Island capitalised on the economic opportunities of the tourism industry and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to devasting impacts. With the closure of Plaine Corail Airport to commercial flights from the 20^th of March 2020 to 1^st July 2020, no tourists were allowed on the island while returning residents and local tourists from the mainland had to abide to strict sanitary protocols. This sudden halt had an immediate knock-on impact on the wider economy of the island, including the major economic sectors.

How did a small island like Rodrigues, with limited resources, sustain the economic activities and safeguard livelihood for its people in the tourism industry during these challenging times?

Driving Green Innovation

Consultations between the Rodrigues Regional Assembly and the local tourism operators resulted in several measures being undertaken. In addition to the national measure which provided for Wage Assistance Scheme to employees; Rodrigues Island instituted a Tourism Alternative Livelihood Scheme, up-skilling of the tourism industry through free training, flexibility with payment exemption of tourism licence fees and other related fees, fast track system for alternative licences, the senior citizen scheme, promotion of local tourism and the setting up of the Tourism Joint Working Committee. The Tourism Joint Working Committee, Tourism Alternative Livelihood Scheme and the senior citizen scheme drove innovation during this difficult period.

With a consequent decline in revenue-generating activities for the hotels, guest houses, tour operators, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), boaters, and other nautical activities, it was imperative to find a solution to assist this industry and its people, until commercial flights could resume on the island. For example, to assist the local handicraft MSMEs, several solidarity fares were organised to support their activities and to generate revenues from the local market.

Green Jobs and New Tourists

Innovative measures such as the setting up of the Tourism Alternative Livelihood Scheme, provided an opportunity for employees in this industry to pivot to alternative greening activities such as agro-ecology, environmental protection, and other social activities on the island. The scheme involved the cleaning of beaches, coral replantation, clearing of reef passes, biodiversity restoration of the islets and cleaning of the hiking paths around the island. The training scheme provided enhancement support to 447 employees in the tourism sector during the year 2020. Working with the community was a success for alternative livelihoods and the preservation of the environment.

Senior Citizens – Tapping into the Silver Economy

The senior citizen group of the island which represents nearly 9% of the population was targeted as an important market share for local tourism. Tapping into the Senior citizens as a source of income was one of the innovative and smart moves of the local authority to sustain the activities in the tourism industry. Aimed at generating a partial revenue for registered touristic guesthouses, this scheme was set up to encourage senior citizens to enjoy a short stay in local tourist accommodation at subsidised rates. In 2020, more than 800 senior citizens of Rodrigues benefited from this initiative, which was resumed by the Commission for Tourism of Rodrigues in 2021.

Looking Ahead

The pandemic period was an opportunity for Rodrigues to revamp its activities in the tourism sector with new and innovative measures to minimise job loss while encouraging training and upskilling for green alternative livelihoods. Rodrigues has shown innovative and resilient skills to address the immediate challenges of the pandemic crisis, in harmony with nature, while leaving no one behind.

With the news of Mauritius re-opening in July 2021, the UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles Accelerator Lab has organised a Collective Intelligence exercise where we brought together a mix of different stakeholders, from public and private sectors, local hotel operators and MSMEs in the tourism sector to work together and answer one question: If you could identify one policy measure or action to help MSMEs in the tourism sector in its recovery, what would it be?

 Follow us as we share the insights of our Collective Intelligence exercise through a series of blogs. Our next blog: Getting Smarter Together by Working as a Collective