The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) has a long tradition of encouraging and supporting expeditions and international field research.  The Society has recently completed one of the largest and most ambitious research projects in its history - the Shoals of Capricorn Programme 1998 - 2001. This massive project studied the entire marine environment of the Mascarene Region of the south-west Indian Ocean, to provide comprehensive information on the current environment and a plan for its future management.

The Mascarene Region, lying between 4° and 22°S in the southwest Indian Ocean, consists of the deep (>4000m) Mascarene Basin to the west, the granitic islands and low-lying coral islands of the Seychelles Bank and the island groups of the Seychelles to the south and west, the extensive banks and shoals of the Mascarene Plateau (or Ridge) and the volcanic islands of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues. With much of its landmass between 8m and 20m below the surface, the Mascarene Plateau is a rare example of an extensive shallow-shelf sea completely detached from land boundaries.

The Shoals Programme was the first multi-disciplinary research project to focus solely on this region. Through its network of field bases, operational between 1998 and 2001, the Programme hosted over 200 international scientists from 21 countries, all investigating different aspects of the marine environments of the region.

Alongside this research ran a comprehensive training and education programme. More than 300 local people from a wide range of Government and non-government groups were trained in scientific, practical and marine safety skills, in order to support marine research in the region into the future. Behind all of this ran a broad-reaching education programme. Shoals involved more than 400 local children from the Seychelles, Mauritius and Rodrigues, and assisted in establishing marine education and conservation issues into the relevant national curricula, thereby providing a mechanism for the continuity of marine education for future generations.

The work of the Shoals Programme in Mauritius and Seychelles continues. The ongoing science, training and education initiatives are now being run by the Centre for Marine Research and Technology in Seychelles. Contact Mr Rolph Payet for more details (rolph@seychelles.sc). In Mauritius,  Shoals Rodrigues (a locally run NGO) has established an active field facility for use by local students and visiting scientists. Details can be found on their website www.shoals-rodrigues.org. Or contact Tom Hooper or Tara Lynch on shoals.rod@intnet.mu.

The Royal Society of London hosted an International Discussion Meeting entitled ‘Atmosphere – ocean – ecology dynamics in the western Indian Ocean’  in January 2004.  It was coordinated by Dr Tom Spencer ts111@hermes.cam.ac.uk  For a summary report of the meeting please go to www.royalsoc.ac.uk/events and click on the 'discussion meeting' flag and then go to January.

In addition, the Shoals Field Report is a comprehensive record of the activities of the Programme in the western Indian Ocean between 1998 and 2001.