Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Title
Tree
Props
up
the
Project
Objective
Continue
to
develop
and
improve
our
base
camp
on
Curieuse
Island
and
in
particular
to
continue
reducing
its
environmental
impact
on
the
island.
Summary
This
achievement
contributes
to
the
objective
of
developing
and
improving
our
base
camp
by
developing
the
infrastructure.
The
Bommie
roof
is
one
of
our
main
sources
of
rainwater
collection
on
camp,
and
by
bringing
it
back
into
service
it
greatly
reduces
the
amount
of
groundwater
drawn
from
the
reservoir
shared
with
the
Dr.
House
barbeque
area.
This
reduces
the
competition
for
often
scarce
fresh
water
resources.
Report
GVI
Curieuse
is
home
to
both
the
Island
Conservation
and
Construction
programmes.
With
Curieuse
Island
being
a
national
park
our
ecological
conservation
work
is
our
bread
and
butter,
and
accordingly
it
claims
most
of
the
limelight.
Today
however,
its
a
chance
to
reflect
on
some
of
the
regularl
construction
work
going
on
around
base.
Our
well-equipped
kit
room
has
everything
a
budding
carpenter
or
electrician
may
need.
Projects
range
from
the
smaller
scale
(shelving
and
furniture
etc.)
to
the
more
substantial
such
as
major
building
works.
Previous
volunteers
have
helped
in
the
construction
of
many
aspects
of
camp;
fitting
windows
and
doors
to
the
dormitories,
constructing
water
drainage
systems,
building
worktops
for
the
volunteer
kitchen
or
creating
our
well-used
rubbish
and
recycling
station
to
name
but
a
few.
These
projects
are
well
thought
out
and
planned
to
fit
around
the
science
schedule,
or
saved
for
when
construction
volunteers
come
to
the
program.
Occasionally
however,
something
urgent
springs
up
and
last
month
the
team
on
Curieuse
had
to
repair
the
roof
of
their
communal
dining
area,
the
Bommie.
GVI.2015.1
Early
in
the
afternoon
of
Monday
24th
August
Base
Manager
Alan
shimmied
up
a
ladder
to
check
on
the
electrics
which
feed
the
Bommie
lights,
a
five
minute
job.
From
his
vantage
point
something
was
instantly
obvious
-
the
roof,
once
as
horizontal
as
the
finest
Seychellois
spirit
level,
was
clearly
sagging
in
the
middle
with
the
main
post
supporting
that
section
definitely
lower
than
it
used
to
be.
The
island
had
just
experienced
a
few
days
of
uncharacteristically
wet
weather
(98.9mm
over
3
days,
during
the
peak
of
dry
season).
Alan
recruited
Science
Officer
James
and
they
thought
there
was
an
easy
explanation
the
heavy
rain
must
have
caused
the
post
to
sink
into
wet
ground.
So
the
plan
was
simple
and
the
boys
set-to:
support
the
roof,
dig
out
around
the
post,
reinforce
the
foundation
with
a
new
concrete
footing;
it
will
all
be
done
in
time
for
an
afternoon
cup
of
tea.
Everything
was
going
to
plan,
leverage
in
the
correct
spot
here,
a
temporary
brace
there,
in
no
time
the
roof
was
back
to
the
correct
height.
However,
in
this
process
the
true
reason
for
the
sinking
became
apparent
the
base
of
the
post
was
rotten
and
the
job
was
exponentially
larger
than
first
thought.
At
the
end
of
last
year
the
Seychelles
Forestry
department
had
cleared
back
a
large
number
of
Takamaka
trees
from
the
west
side
of
camp,
creating
space
for
the
construction
of
two
new
volunteer
dormitories.
From
this,
there
were
still
a
number
of
substantial
pieces
of
good
quality
hard
wood
timber
on
site,
and
plenty
cement
from
the
construction
projects.
A
replacement
post
was
selected
against
some
stringent
criteria
long
(at
least
390cm),
straight,
moveable
by
two
people
(the
rest
of
the
staff
and
volunteers
were
out
conducting
field
work).
The
new
post
was
fitted
with
a
substantial
foundation
to
ensure
its
strength.
The
team
hand
mixed
around
300kg
of
concrete
to
create
a
foundation
along
with
another
100kg
of
rocks
for
extra
support.
The
post
and
roof
was
immediately
tested
with
the
wettest
week
of
the
year
(another
469.4mm)
and
is
clearly
fit
for
the
job,
but
one
things
for
sure
nothing
ever
takes
five
minutes
on
Curieuse!
All
of
this,
and
there
was
not
a
construction
volunteer
in
sight.
However,
there
are
plenty
of
future
opportunities
for
construction
volunteers
to
help
with
similar
projects.
Expansion
from
a
12
to
18
capacity
camp
means
a
second
new
dormitory
is
currently
under
construction.
A
roof
will
be
fitted
within
the
next
month
followed
by
windows
and
doors
after
that.
A
new
double
volunteer
shower
block
is
under
way,
the
rainwater
harvesting
system
is
ready
to
be
upgraded
and
there
are
even
plans
to
rebuild
one
of
our
two
boats.
So
if
youre
handy
with
a
hammer,
or
would
like
to
learn
some
new
skills
then
there
is
still
plenty
to
help
out
with
on
Curieuse.
GVI.2015.1