The breathtaking lagoons surrounding Mauritius hide a far more fragile reality: a coral reef barrier that is weakening, partly due to plastic pollution. To take action on the ground and raise awareness without shaming anyone, St茅phane Dor茅, a French resident who has lived on the island since 2018, created Protez Moris. In this interview, he explains the initiative's goals and shares practical steps everyone can take to help protect Mauritius's natural treasure.
Could you introduce yourself briefly and tell us how your journey led you to move to Mauritius?
St茅phane Dor茅: I'm married, I have three children, I'm 56 years old, I'm from Brittany, and I'm an engineer and entrepreneur.
In 2003, I founded a building engineering consultancy specializing in vertical transportation and energy efficiency. It was an incredible human adventure, with more than a third of employees becoming shareholders, several hundred jobs created, a huge amount of energy (a lot, really!), and a great entrepreneurial success in the end.
We arrived in Rivi猫re-Noire in 2018, and we've loved everything about the Mauritian quality of life.
How did the idea for Protez Moris come about, and what core values guide it?
Mauritius is a treasure. The island, which flies one of the world's most beautiful flags and has a motto鈥斺�淥ne Island, Many peoples, All Mauritians鈥濃�攖hat many admire, also enjoys some of the cleanest air in the world, according to IQAir's 2023 ranking. That is, without a doubt, its greatest asset in becoming one of the greenest nations on Earth.
But we are still far from that. Environmental awareness is only just beginning here. Protez Moris wants to be part of this journey with light-hearted messages that don't lecture people but instead make them want to help the planet smile every day.
Protez Moris defends protecting the coral reef barrier by fighting waste dumped along roadsides and on beaches. These two issues are deeply connected, and unfortunately, the trend over the past few years has been negative. More and more waste is being discarded in nature, and everything that ends up on the ground eventually reaches the sea. The coral reef barrier is the first to be affected. And without a coral reef barrier, Mauritius is no longer a treasure.
Tell us about Protez Moris' main mission and the Mauritian ecosystems the association aims to protect.
In 2000, the average live coral cover in Mauritius was above 60%. In 2025, it is below 20%. That is a collapse, partly caused by ocean warming and partly by plastic. Studies show a deadly link between disease rates, coral reproduction, and the presence of plastic in the sea.
The fact that all the plastic found on Mauritian shores comes from local sources is actually a reason for hope. This is a regional issue, and if awareness grows quickly, we could see a strong impact.
A 10-year simulation with Mauritius free of plastic in the sea and free of mechanical damage (anchors on coral reefs) yields a live coral cover rate of 30-35%. At that point, the lagoons become lush gardens again鈥�
So, in 2035: a desert or a lush garden? Most likely somewhere in between. But Protez Moris' goal is clearly the lush garden.
The desert scenario? No real awareness of the plastic threat, the death of the coral reef barrier, and consequences that are impossible to measure, such as coastal erosion, tourism, fishing鈥�
The lush garden scenario? No plastic left in nature or in the sea. Both Mauritian residents and tourists fully understand the importance of a healthy coral reef barrier. The message 鈥淭ou seki zet ater fini dan lamer鈥� (鈥淓verything thrown on the ground ends up in the sea鈥�) appears on every official document, payslip, bill, or restaurant menu.
Retention nets have been installed at the mouths of major rivers. Fishermen, sea tourism professionals, and public authorities have agreed on an island-wide network of eco-friendly mooring buoys. Anchoring is banned near coral reefs.
Protez Moris won't be able to do everything on its own. Our focus will be on raising awareness among the population. And because we want to prove the concept before expanding, we will first work in the Le Morne鈥揅hamarel鈥揟amarin area.
What projects and concrete actions have you launched or are planning to raise awareness among locals and visitors?
We're only at the beginning. The association is just three months old. We have just finalized the composition of our board of directors, and we're proud of the people on it: all are actively involved in local life and fully aware of the environmental stakes.
We have already installed 110 Protez Moris 鈥渢otems鈥濃�攂eautiful wooden signs made from local wood, painted in bright colors, and engraved with light, sometimes humorous messages. These signs are placed in shops, restaurants, hotels, or on the fences of houses along the beaches. We design and install them free of charge, as long as they are visible to as many people as possible.
The welcome has been extremely positive every time we meet someone. We will be installing another hundred totems in Tamarin over the next few weeks.
What impact have you already had on the community or the environment so far?
Two very encouraging examples:
On Kite Lagoon beach in Le Morne, we replaced old benches installed by kitesurfers with three new benches in Protez Moris colors, with our messages. Some kitesurfer friends told me that since then, they now take their cigarette butts back to their cars鈥�
On La Preneuse beach, we installed around thirty totems on the fences of the villas bordering the beach.
In both cases, the impact has been substantial. Part of the population is very receptive and takes their waste with them. And the cleaner it becomes, the harder it is for the other part of the population to litter. On the other hand, the dirtier it gets鈥� the dirtier it gets. A positive cycle seems to have started on these two beaches.
How do you measure the impact of your actions?
Data collection is one of Protez Moris' key missions. Copying good ideas is a win, and we are adopting the processes used by other associations that are much more advanced than we are.
On the first Monday of every month, we sort and count plastic waste found along a 100-meter-long, 5-meter-wide stretch of coastline (a 100 m transect). We have three target zones: Tamarin Beach, La Preneuse Beach, and Le Morne Beach.
We will also conduct 鈥淔lash Flood鈥� surveys 48 hours after heavy rainfall to measure the waste 鈥渟pit鈥� out by rivers.
Within a few months, we will have qualitative data to share with public authorities, other associations, and the media.
The survey sheets are ready, and so are our first members. We're starting soon.
How can expats or anyone newly arrived in Mauritius get involved or support your work?
By simply becoming members of Protez Moris, they become protectors of the coral reef barrier and support our values. Membership is symbolically set at Rs 100 per year. The more members we have, the more we will be heard, and the faster we can move forward.
Anyone who wants to can join us on the ground. Active members will be offered different formats: clean walks, environmental awareness activities in schools, beach communication actions, data collection, totem installation, etc.
Do you work in partnership with other local associations, institutions, or schools? If so, how do these collaborations take shape?
We have two school interventions planned during the first semester. We will also join volunteers from the association Project Rescue Ocean on Tamarin Beach for a cleanup action on Saturday, February 28, in the morning.
In the longer term, we would be delighted if major associations such as Reef Conservation or Eco Sud chose Tamarin as a site for reef restoration or the installation of eco-friendly mooring buoys.
What are the biggest challenges for Protez Moris in the coming months and years, and how do you see your work evolving in the long run?
Our goals are so numerous!
In the very short term, registering Protez Moris with the Registrar of Associations is taking all our attention.
Over the next 20 months, we aim to install 1,000 totems across the Le Morne鈥揅hamarel鈥揟amarin area, along with dozens of awareness and beach-cleanup initiatives.
In the longer term, we hope to be genuinely heard by local authorities, public institutions, and key decision-makers. We are convinced this is the right moment for Mauritius. And we have a lot of energy (a lot, really!). Protecting Mauritius is not an option鈥攊t is a shared responsibility. Protecting the coral reef barrier is an absolute emergency.
