Although the Pew Ocean Legacy Progr

Although the Pew Ocean Legacy Program has not identified any other potential megareserve sites in the western Indian Ocean, it is still possible that other coastal and island nations will be motivated to rescind fishing access rights and protect part or all their EEZ in the form of marine reserves. For example, in 2014 the Seychelles government started exploring options for a 200,000 km2 marine reserve in its EEZ as part of a debt-swap initiative with the UK, France and Belgium, facilitated by The Nature Conservancy (http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/africa/wherewework/seychelles.xml; accessed 7th August 2015). Under this initiative, the Seychelles government will set up a trust fund to purchase, restructure and manage its debt. After 20 years, the endowment is expected to be fully capitalised at $45 million and will pay out $2.25 million per year to fund continued marine conservation activities, including implementation of the marine reserve.