about North Island Seychelles

North Island Seychelles

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The Seychelles' North Island is stunning, its white-sand beaches stretching between huge granite slopes, its peaks covered with dense tropical growth and abundant groves of coconut palms. But on closer inspection the island is in bad ecological shape. Much of the tropical flora, although striking, is not indigenous. There are few endemic animals, and no seabirds breed here. Ecologist Richard Slater-Jones spent several months on North Island as part of a restoration project that plans to turn back the clock.

It was a time of great violence and great beauty. From the centre of the ancient super continent of Gondwanaland, Africa broke free and twisted, shattering the surrounding land mass. South America went west while Australia was banished to the east; Antarctica moved south, doomed to a future of permanent freeze. Then, just as things started to settle down, a huge, triangular chunk of land pulled away from the east coast of Africa, reeling away to the north-east and strewing shattered pieces of continent into the ocean. The land mass moving northwards eventually collided with Asia and became India. The seas started to rise and all but the peaks of the highest mountains on the scattered remnants of land were covered up with water.

Today, if you travel 1 400 kilometers east of Africa at 5 degrees south of the equator you will find these ancient peaks sticking out of the ocean. These, the Seychelles, are the only granite islands in the world, products of the great drama of the break-up of Gondwanaland more than 100 million years ago.

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I recently found myself standing alone on the northernmost of the granite islands, North Island. Barefoot and clad only in a kikoi, I felt very insignificant surrounded by towering rock slopes as old as Africa and an endless ocean even older. Thousands of kilometers of water surrounded me in every direction. Squinting to the horizon, I could just make out Aride and Praslin, my neighbors to the north-east, through the blue haze.

Feelings of apprehension soon gave way to excitement as I contemplated the months ahead on this, one of the last uninhabited granite islands on earth. I would be initiating an environmental monitoring programme for one of the most ambitious island-restoration projects yet undertaken in the Seychelles, and possibly the entire world.

Scattered over 400 000 square kilometers of ocean, 115 islands make up the Seychelles. Most of the population inhabits the granite islands, but the country also comprises many coralline islands, including the World Heritage Site Aldabra, a coral atoll. Among the granites there is also the island of Silhouette, which is volcanic in origin.

Referred to as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, these islands, and particularly the granitics, boast a rich biodiversity that includes fauna and flora found nowhere else on earth. Similarly, the people of the Seychelles are extraordinarily diverse: the islands were originally French and later a British colony, and pirates, seafarers, freed African slaves and Indian and Chinese merchants have all contributed to the vibrant Creole culture that exists there today.

The geological history may be ancient, but the human history of the islands is recent, dating back only about two hundred years. The larger islands such as Mahé and Praslin were inhospitable places, where enormous salt-water crocodiles in the fringing mangroves guarded the rich interiors; for this reason Mahé, now the principal island of the Seychelles, was not occupied for the first years of human colonization. Instead the small island of St Anne, a few kilometers further east, was the chosen settlement area in 1770, as it had no mangroves to support the crocodiles. Once the crocodiles had been shot out, settlers spread on to Mahé and most of the surrounding granite islands, and all but a few small patches of mangroves were lost. The ancient reptile guardian of the islands is now extinct, the only reminder of it being an imposing replica on the steps of the Seychelles Natural History Museum.

Once the main islands had been settled, many of the large tropical hardwood trees were chopped down for timber, particularly for the boat-building industry. A thriving market for copra resulted in island plateau being cleared for coconut palms Cocos nucifera, and some palms were even planted on the steep slopes. Coconut palms covering extensive areas (such as those found on North Island) may seem typical of tropical islands - and make great postcard scenes - but these palms actually occur naturally only on the beach crest. Plantations of them have displaced much of the original indigenous coastal woodland, and in some cases higher-altitude forest as well. When the copra market crashed in the 1970s, many plantation islands were abandoned and left open to invasion by exotic plants, as happened on North Island, my temporary home.

Not all is doom and gloom, however. Despite the dramatic early human influence on the islands, many of them have retained their pre-settlement natural beauty, particularly in the more inaccessible areas on the higher granite peaks of Silhouette and Mahé. And on there are still pockets of coastal woodland dominated by indigenous takamaka Calophyllum inophyllum and badamier Terminalia catappa trees. There has also been active restoration of many habitats and, in some cases, whole islands. The Seychelles has one of the world's best conservation policies, and has devoted more than 40 per cent of its land to conservation - an impressive proportion, considering the small amount of settlement space available to the island state.

Not only the government, but private landowners too have played an important role in conserving the Seychelles' biodiversity. Some have even gone so far as to buy whole islands in order to commit them to conservation and biological research.

One of the best known conservation success stories is that of the small island of Cousin, just west of Praslin. About 30 years ago, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds purchased this ex-plantation island specifically to restore it and make habitat available to dwindling endemic bird populations and breeding seabirds. After years of natural succession and limited management (the felling of some coconut palms, the clearing of exotics and keeping the island rat-free), Cousin has reverted to a habitat much as it was before human settlement. Under the management of BirdLife Seychelles, it can now support sustainable populations of critically endangered endemic terrestrial birds such as the Seychelles magpie robin Copsychus sechellarum, the Seychelles warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis and the Seychelles fody Foudia sechellarum. (The rest of the world's much-reduced population of these birds is found only on two or three neighboring islands.) Hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds have also returned after difficult years in which nesting habitat was lost and their eggs were collected.

I visited Cousin's sister island, Cousine, on one of my rare excursions off North Island. Cousine is privately owned and has an exclusive tourist lodge. Here, active management (the clearing of exotics, the planting of indigenous vegetation, keeping the island rat-free and the re-introduction of birds) has created a new paradise for birds and reptiles. Although the natural habitat is not yet as established as that of Cousin, it already has successful endemic bird populations, as well as a mind-blowing number of breeding seabirds. Fairy terns Gygis alba lay their eggs precariously on branches, along which newly-hatched chicks wobble like tightrope walkers. Common noddies Anous stolidus and their chicks are everywhere. White-tailed tropicbirds Phaethon lepturus find crevices among the granite boulders in which to rear their large, fluffy offspring. Audubon's shearwaters Puffinus lherminieri reel against an orange sky as they come in to roost and select grass tussocks for their breeding efforts. Seychelles magpie robins, Seychelles warblers, Seychelles fodies, Seychelles blue pigeons Alectroenas pulcherrima and other rarities all find refuge here.
Marveling at the success of these island restorations in a relatively short space of time, I couldn't help but get excited at the incredible potential of North Island. Like many of the Seychelles islands, particularly the granitics, it has been dramatically changed by humans. Yet the outlook is promising. The island is more than 10 times bigger than Cousin and Cousine, it reaches 180 metres above sea level and it also supports more habitat types.

On North Island, despite the ecological disruption, I could watch the rare endemic Seychelles kestrel Falco araea breeding on the cliffs overlooking the plateau, visit a large freshwater wetland which supports waterbirds and indigenous vegetation, and sink beneath the surrounding waters onto coral reefs which appear to be recovering well from the El Niño bleaching. Underwater, I could swim among hundreds of species of reef fish, and on occasion snorkel with visitors such as whale sharks Rhincodon typus and sea turtles. If this reflects a heavily disturbed state, imagine what the island's ecosystem could be like after a massive restoration project and re-introductions.

North Island is also one of the only granite islands left where the endangered green turtle Chelonia mydas still breeds in significant numbers; this, the second-largest turtle in the world, has in the past been hunted extensively for its meat. The hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata is not as endangered as the green turtle in the granitics but is still vulnerable, having been hunted for its shell. Under the Seychelles' progressive conservation policies, it is now illegal to catch turtles anywhere in these waters.

Because of the many years between hatching and sexual maturity (20 to 30 years for green turtles), the effects of poaching on turtle populations may be seen only many years down the line. In other words, the current population estimates and trends (extrapolated from the number of emerging females) may not reflect the actual current population trends. Because of the delay, it is likely that green turtle numbers will continue to decline in coming years. North Island will provide maximum protection for the dwindling numbers of females, ensuring that they continue to inhabit the granitics for generations to come.

Green turtle females emerge at night during the south-east monsoon season, whereas hawksbills emerge during the day in the north-east monsoon season. During my stay, several nights a week I would pick my way through the dark forest with a hurricane lamp and emerge on Grand Anse, the western beach of North Island. Armed with pliers and titanium tags and guided by moonlight and a night sky unsullied by urban lights, I waited for the green turtles to arrive.

The memory of one particular night is etched on my mind forever. A huge shadow materialized at the glistening tide line in front of me. Sitting dead still, I watched an old female green turtle haul herself slowly and laboriously up the beach. I sat in the darkness a few metres from her as she began to excavate a nest cavity. Suddenly she stopped and dragged herself back down the moonlit beach, only to U-turn back on to the beach crest above the high-water mark a few metres away. Clearly exhausted, again she began to dig; and again she halted and, with great effort, moved to a new spot. As she moved along the beach crest away from me, I crept to the first nest cavity she had dug. Strong grass roots crisscrossed the half-finished hole. I listened and watched her dark shape for hours. On her ninth attempt, she gave up and dragged herself back into the water.

Why had she failed to lay on a beach her ancestors had been using for thousands of years? Human impact on the island has many facets. Natural beach-crest vegetation, such as Scaevola and Barringtonia, has been lost, the main culprits being grazing cattle. Grasses which would not normally be able to grow in their shadow have encroached on to the beach crest, the important turtle-nesting area. In addition, the excessive numbers of coconut palms litter the ground with thousands of coconuts, creating further obstacles to the female turtles. Every failed breeding attempt may be a nail in the coffin for the turtle populations of the granite islands. The North Island restoration project will re-establish the vital dune vegetation.
The good news is that more than 30 other green turtle nesting attempts were successful on Grand Anse last season, with each clutch containing about a hundred eggs. In 30 years' time some of the hundreds of hatchlings that emerged from these nests and made it to the sea will return to North Island with investments for the future of the green turtle.

Having traveled extensively overseas, Richard Slater-Jones recently returned to the southern hemisphere to continue his career as an adventure photographer and film-maker. En route to South Africa, he was side-tracked to North Island where, making use of his degree in Zoology from the University of the Witwatersrand, he spent 'an amazing' four months helping to set up the environmental monitoring programme.

North Island Renewal
How does one go about restoring a 210-hectare tropical island? It takes a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of enthusiasm. Renowned southern African ecotourism company Wilderness Safaris has committed to the challenge. As one of the shareholders and the instigator of the project, Wilderness Safaris and its partners plan to build a seriously exclusive, island-friendly lodge. The exclusivity will keep impact to a minimum and create funds for the restoration project. For about US$700 a night, you will get no motorboats buzzing up and down in front of the lodge, nor will you dance the night away with loud beach parties - but you will have free rein over a tropical island paradise unlike anywhere else on earth. You will be able to explore the forests and the ocean reefs with expert biologists, join researchers monitoring endangered green and hawksbill turtles emerging to nest and, of course, relax in complete luxury in an environment shared with some of the world's rarest animals.

One of the most important steps taken towards the rehabilitation of North Island will be the removal of rats. A major environmental concern in the Seychelles is the presence of, particularly, the brown rat Rattus rattus, which is arboreal. It competes for the same food resources as many endemic terrestrial birds and also disrupts the nesting activities of seabirds. Strict control of boats, supplies and people landing on the islands is necessary to keep them rat-free, and this often entails a volunteer with a large wooden stick standing by as crates are opened and boats beached. Rat eradication is planned for North Island once construction of the lodge has been completed, to avoid inadvertently re-introducing the rats via building materials. Considering the size and terrain of the island, it will be a massive challenge, estimated to cost US$500 000.

Endemic birds will be re-introduced on to North from Cousin, Cousine or Frégate once the rats have been eradicated, and the critically endangered Seychelles giant tortoise Geochelonia gigantea will also be a candidate for re-introduction.

Vegetation restoration is a longer-term goal. This huge undertaking will involve removing many hectares of exotics such as the invasive lantana, cocoplum, alstonia and guava, much of which grows on inaccessible cliffs. Surviving indigenous coastal woodland of takamaka and badamier will be extended with new planting. Less robust coastal trees favoured by seabirds, including Cordia subcordata, Guettarda speciosa, Hernandia nymphaeifolia and the fascinating puzzlenut tree Xylocarpus moluccensis, have been reduced to only a few individuals on North Island. They will be propagated and planted to create a coastal woodland more suitable for the island animals, and probably closer to what it was a few hundred years ago. Overpopulated indigenous plants such as the coconut palm and casuarina Casuarina equisetifolia will be thinned as planting progresses.

Restoring the environment of North Island is a huge undertaking, but one that has good potential for success. By making use of ecotourism, those involved are committed to contributing not only to the environmental conservation of Seychelles, but to global biodiversity conservation too.

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