Brief project description: The objective of the project is to undertake a comprehensive Ridge to Reef (R2R) approach that addresses the ‘whole island' priorities of improved management and conservation of upland forest and agricultural ecosystems as well as coastal and marine ecosystems in the Seychelles to produce global benefits in terms of conservation of globally significant biodiversity and the effective management of large marine ecosystems (including coastal and near-shore marine ecosystems), and to arrest and reverse ecosystem degradation. The project is designed to: i) reduce threats to globally significant biodiversity by strengthening the country's system of marine protected areas and reducing negative land-based impacts on those ecosystems, as well as strengthening the management of forested Key Biodiversity Areas and their surroundings; ii) reverse land degradation in areas outside of formally protected areas and in productive land through the promotion of SLM/SFM practices and agroforestry, leading to the restoration and sustainable flows of forest ecosystem services with positive impacts to communities as well as to adjacent coastal and marine ecosystems; and iii) strengthen capacity and partnerships to promote integrated ecosystem management based on the R2R approach. By addressing a range of terrestrial threats to the marine environment, including flows of pollutants, nutrients and sediment, disrupted hydrological services, degradation of critical habitat, etc. that have significant negative impacts on important coastal/marine ecosystems including wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs, the project will simultaneously improve the management of the terrestrial landscape, improve the effectiveness of integrated coastal management practices, and secure the integrity of existing and new marine protected areas in the Seychelles. At the policy and strategic level, the project will unite the three most important spatial and resource planning processes in the country, namely the Marine Spatial Plan (for the seascape), the Seychelles Strategic Plan (for the landscape), and national and district level Land Use Plans. The project will build on these baseline activities by providing strategic incremental funding to implement priority actions in each of the plans.