CONSERVATION

Alien species
Anti Poaching

A long tradition

Conservation has been at the heart of Aride Island Nature Reserve for nearly forty years. The island was declared a private reserve by the owner, Paul Chenard, in 1967. It was later purchased by Christopher Cadbury for Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in 1973, declared a Special Reserve under Seychelles law in 1979 and leased to Island Conservation Society in 2004. 

Aride has employed professional scientists as Wardens since March 1984 and has the longest continuous scientific monitoring programmes in Seychelles . Monthly reports have been produced since 1984 and detailed scientific reports, have been produced since 1987, initially covering a two year period but annually since 1994. Today, there is a wealth of data is providing an insight into long term trends with implications way beyond the shores of the island.

Conservation Management Plan

The Aride Management Plan sets out an agreed set of policies for the management of Aride Island and identifies the features of conservation importance. These are evaluated in a national, international and local context. The first management Plan was prepared in 1989, with updated versions in 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2001 and 2006. The current Plan runs for a period of five years to 2011.

Conservation of endemic land birds

When Aride was first protected, the endemic birds that once bred here had vanished. Some fell victim to the clearance of habitat, some were deliberately killed (there is a nineteenth century reference to 24 Seychelles Magpie-robins shot in a single day by a collector). Introduced cats may also have killed many birds.

Today, the cats have gone and the birds are back. The introduction of the Seychelles Warbler in 1988 was a remarkable success, with the new population doubling within 12 months. Today the majority of the world’s population of Seychelles Warblers breed on Aride.

Transfers of Seychelles Fody and Seychelles Magpie-robin have also been successful. Two endemics, Seychelles Blue Pigeon and Seychelles Sunbird have re-colonised Aride naturally, a reflection of the successful rehabilitation of the island’s habitat.

Conservation of seabirds

Aride has more species and higher numbers of seabirds than any of the other forty granitic islands of Seychelles . All populations of the 10 breeding seabird species are monitored and results published in the Annual Report. Special surveys are conducted for several seabird species including the important colony of Roseate Terns. 

Aride also has the largest roost of frigatebirds in the granitics though they do not breed. Birds are counted twice per month. Numbers have increased dramatically since the official protection of Aride.

Marine Conservation

Nesting beach suitable for turtles is limited on Aride. However, the beach is of interest because it is unusually dynamic. Furthermore, Aride is one of only a few islands where there are signs of an increase in the Hawksbill Turtle population. All Seychelles islands (including the privately protected islands of Cousine and Bird) where numbers of nesting females are on the increase have protected area status. This shows that even though turtles are pelagic species, conservation of their precious nesting sites is vital.

The waters surrounding Aride Island Nature Reserve are protected to 200 m offshore. While the corals are not particularly spectacular, an incredible 449 species of fish have been recorded within this protected zone, including pelagic species rarely encountered elsewhere which may be due to the location of Aride being closer to the edge of the Seychelles Bank than other granitic islands.

Vegetation and marsh monitoring

Permanent vegetation plots on the plateau and hill are monitored at 3 years intervals. All glades where Wright’s Gardenia (endemic to Aride) occurs have been measured and mapped. All evidence indicates that they remain stable in size.

Water levels in the marsh are monitored daily and data is available as part of the Aride Island Annual Scientific Report, there is no evidence that the level is dropping, nor of the presence of hitherto unseen species.

Alien species

Aride is the largest island in Seychelles that has never been invaded by rats. A conservation priority is to keep it that way. Likewise, it is the largest granitic island with no resident Common Mynas. Occasionally, introduced Mynas and Barn Owls cross the waters to Aride and it then becomes a priority to hunt them in order to prevent competition with or (in the case of the owl) predation on the native birds. A strict protocol outlines the boat landings and off-loading of cargo on Aride. Visitors to the island may only be landed by means of Aride's boat, except with special permission and appropriate precautions.

Originally the value of land in Seychelles was measured by the number of coconut palms it supported. Consequently, many islands quickly became choked with coconut palms. An extensive and long-term restoration programme on Aride has successfully ensured the removal of almost all palms the inland areas of the island. The plateau has been completely cleared of Pig-yam (), and all new tubers are removed at least every other month as part of the regular work programme. Agricultural crops are strictly controlled and restricted to a small area of the plateau.

Anti-poaching

The Government of Seychelles has strongly embraced conservation. Conservation education and legislation in Seychelles is excellent, but unfortunately the message has not yet filtered through to everyone and a small number of poachers persist. Thanks primarily to the tremendous support from Ministry of Environment incidents have become less common. An anti-poaching group has been established embracing other bodies active in this field. The war is not over, but progress is being made.