Never off duty: Dr Nirmal Shah’s career as the steward of Seychelles’ Nature

“My dad used to say that I had invented the 36-hour day,” laughs Dr Nirmal Shah. And when you learn what he has achieved throughout his career you might find yourself wondering if it’s true. You see, Dr Shah is the CEO of Nature Seychelles, a non-profit dedicated to biodiversity conservation. Commercially astute, strategic and laser-focused, he has chosen to direct his considerable intellectual (and physical!) strength to the future of his beloved home.

However, it is one thing to be a born Seychellois and another entirely to be the son of one of the island’s most celebrated polymaths. From the earliest age, Dr Shah was surrounded by fascinating people from the world over, who sought out the company of this father. A successful businessman, he was also a historian, conservationist, folklorist, herbalist, accomplished photographer and “collector of anything to do with the Seychelles – antiques, furniture and so forth,” he recalls. “My mother died when I was very young, so I grew up with him in a house that was a basically a library and museum.”

Though the loss of his mother lay heavy on both he and his father, Dr Shah’s childhood was unique and blessed. Filled with knowledge and stories from “intellectuals, adventurers and scientists”, he would accompany them on boat trips and hikes into the mountains, absorbing the scientific names of animals, plants, birds and marine life. “People know me as somebody who has all these names off the top of my head – I didn't learn that in university. I learned that as a teenager.”

When it was time for further education, he took his father’s advice and headed to India to pursue a degree in Business Studies and Economics, which might seem an unusual choice for a teenager so absorbed by the natural world, but has since proven to be a solid foundation for the financial and resource realities of running an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation). It also brought him closer to his heritage, having been born in the Seychelles to parents of Indian origin – his grandfather came to Seychelles from India as a trader in 1891. But there was no getting away from the fact that his first love was science, and he could not bring himself to begin post graduate studies in Chartered Accountancy – instead, determinedly heading to the USA. Marine Biology was calling. And then a PhD in Ecology with the University of Texas.

Determination and passion are very much the calling cards of Dr Shah. He is a man who almost inhales information, processes it and then applies his accumulated knowledge to solve problems which are closest to his heart. Nothing seems to faze him, instead he is clear-headed and practical. And this is the way he approaches every challenge – whether it’s wanting to study a completely new subject as a master’s degree (“with a business degree, I had to really work to get into science.”) or pioneering coral reef restoration projects when most of the world was sceptical about their efficacy.

“I came back home with these advanced degrees,” he says, matter-of-factly. “There were very few people in the Seychelles with PhDs at that point – and nobody in the field of environment or marine science.” He subsequently worked with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Fishing Authority and eventually was asked to join the Department of Environment as the Seychelle’s very first Director of Conservation and National Parks. It was here he had a realisation. “It was extremely difficult starting from scratch and, in three years, our first Environment Management Plan was being backed by the World Bank, UNESCO and UNEP. We needed the support of consultancies, but there were none. So, I decided to go into the private sector.”

Like his father before him, Dr Shah’s move into consultancy meant that he too created a huge library. “The internet had not yet reached the Seychelles. So, I built a huge collection of very expensive books on many environmental subjects. I was working 24/7, on around thirty different projects.” It was during this time that BirdLife International took a particular interest in the Seychelles, seeking a partnership to build on work they had begun in 1968, when they bought Cousin Island to save what was then the world’s rarest bird – the Seychelles warbler. They wanted a local NGO, aligned to the principles of BirdLife International, to try and save the Seychelles magpie-robin, which was on the brink of extinction. The project would be funded by the RSPB – and they asked Dr Shah to set it up and run it.

Little did they realise that ‘BirdLife Seychelles’, (which, through many large funding applications on Dr Shah’s part, saved some of the world’s rarest birds in the Seychelles) would evolve into an organisation with what he describes as an “ecosystem level view.” Nature Seychelles was born and with its increased scope came new streams of funding, allowing Dr Shah and his team the freedom to work on truly island-changing projects – including coral reef restoration, which we and our partners at Coral Spawning International are now supporting. “It’s an incredible partnership,” says Dr Shah. “We are always looking for different ideas, different thinking, different technology and it’s rare to find such a collaboration.”

His father was, of course, joking when he proudly said that his son had invented the 36-hour day, but it does speak to the way in which Dr Shah, by his own admission, lives and breathes the conservation of Seychelles. His work brings him a sense of deep fulfilment, but it is also the place where he rests easiest. His family too shares his love for the islands, and it rejuvenates him, ready for the next challenge. “Sitting on a beach watching seabirds fishing in front of me,” he says, “empties my brain sufficiently to begin something new.” And with every new project he continues to keep his home, and in turn all of our homes, safe.

Learn more about our partnership with Coral Spawning International and Nature Seychelles.