More than 80 percent of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles lies to the south and west of the main island of Mahe. More than two-thirds of the 155 islands listed in the Constitution of Seychelles are scattered across this same region. Yet less than one-half of one percent of the population inhabits them. These are the outer islands.
The outer islands are mainly Government owned, with the exceptions of D’Arros and St Joseph Atoll, which are privately owned. The World Heritage Site of Aldabra is leased to Seychelles Islands Foundation, while the Government parastatal, Islands Development Company (IDC) manages all other islands. IDC has appointed Island Conservation Society as conservation advisors for these islands. They hold important seabird colonies and other native species, but until the formation of ICS, they were rarely visited except by fishermen and poachers. ICS now has a number of research programmes planned to fill the gaps in our knowledge and protect these unique, beautiful fragile islands.
Almost 200 kilometres due west of Mahé’s southern tip is the most northern island of the Amirantes. This is African Banks. During the southeast trades, African Banks teems with seabirds. It holds the second largest surviving colony of Sooty Terns in the Amirantes and one of the few Indian Ocean breeding sites for Roseate Tern, Crested Tern and Black-naped Tern in the western Indian Ocean. However, it suffers greatly from poaching and in recent years it is believed that nesting success of most birds has been very low.
[ View Island and Information ]
Rémire, to the south of African Banks is sometimes used as a retreat by the President of Seychelles. The presence of rats limits the number of breeding birds, but there is a healthy colony of Lesser Noddy, believed to be the largest west of the granitic islands, though data is lacking.
[ View Island and Information ]
Privately owned D’Arros has a conservation Research Centre, often used by visiting scientists. The island hosted the Annual General Meeting of Island Conservation Society. Bird life of D’Arros includes a healthy population of Seychelles Fody, introduced from Cousin in 1965. St Joseph Atoll, separated from D'Arros by a deep channel, is made up of 13 small islets., including Ressource where thousands of frigatebirds roost and Pelican, recalling the fact this was once the only atoll in the world where pelicans used to breed. St Joseph Atoll hosts what may be the largest population of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in Seychelles.
[ View Island and Information ]
Poivre lies due south of St Joseph. The atoll consists of three islands: Poivre, South Island and Florentin. Poivre and South are joined at low tide by a man-made causeway. Florentin is named for the large numbers of Grey Herons found there (Florentin being the Creole name for this species). This is the largest atoll in the Amirantes group and although it was a coconut plantation before it was abandoned, in its early days its major production was cotton.
[ View Island and Information ]
Desroches, to the east of Poivre, was the first atoll of the outer islands to open its doors to tourism and is connected to Mahé by regular flights. The presence of rats limits bird interest but Island Conservation Society has plans to implement conservation programmes in partnership with Great Plains, one of the operators on the island. The island has a good population of nesting turtles.
[ View Island and Information ]
Étoile is a tiny island but nevertheless hosts breeding terns notably Sooty Tern and Roseate Tern. It is protected under the Wild Birds Protection (Nature Reserves) Regulations 1968, but because it is uninhabited little is known of the size of the colonies and the impact of poaching.
[ View Island and Information ]
Boudeuse lies at the southwestern corner of the Amirantes. It has what is possibly the largest surviving colony of Masked Booby in Seychelles, though precise data is lacking. Landing is very difficult, even in calm conditions, but the island has suffered from the attention of poachers. It is also protected under the Wild Birds Protection (Nature Reserves) Regulations and again because it is uninhabited and remote little is known of the size of the colonies and the impact of poaching. Yet, it is possibly the least spoiled sand cay in the Indian Ocean and is believed to have no introduced vegetation.
[ View Island and Information ]
Desnoeufs is also famous in Seychelles as the main source of seabird eggs. Over a million pairs of Sooty Terns have been recorded here (though the present day population is about 600,000 pairs), along with smaller numbers of breeding Brown Noddy and Wedge-tailed Shearwater.
[ View Island and Information ]
Marie-Louise is also a haven for seabirds due to the absence of rats. This is the “Aride Island” of the Amirantes, covered in nesting seabirds. There are significant numbers of Fairy Tern and Brown Noddy, but precise data is lacking.
[ View Island and Information ]
South of Desnoeufs, deep water separates the Amirantes from the Alphonse group, where a resort has been constructed, operated from December 2006 by Great Plains, partners of ICS. Rehabilitation, research and monitoring programmes are now underway run by ICS in collaboration with Great Plains. The first full time conservation staff on any outer island apart from Aldabra are now employed. Activities extend to nearby St Francois Atoll, which comprises of the islands of Bijoutier and St Francois. The huge lagoon separating the two islands attracts large numbers of waders including 1,000 or more Crab Plovers.
[ View Island and Information ]
Leaving the remote beauty of St François, a journey of some 100 km lies ahead before the next landfall at Providence Atoll, a rather peculiar, long thin atoll oriented roughly north-south with Providence at its northern tip and Bancs du Providence at its southern extreme. The huge shallow lagoon attracts hundreds of Grey Herons, this being the only place in Seychelles where herons outnumber all other bird species. Black-naped Terns and possibly Roseate Terns breed, but data is lacking.
[ View Island and Information ]
Due west of Providence is the equally strange raised coral platform of St Pierre, rising to about 10 metres above sea level. Once it was important as a source of guano, formed by the droppings of generations of seabirds, which have sadly now been exterminated. Rehabilitation of the island is a long-term ambition of ICS.
[ View Island and Information ]
South of Providence are the ten islands of Farquhar Atoll. Many of the trees of South Island have been turned white by the droppings of hundreds of Red-footed Boobies, which nest here. The southern tip of the atoll, Goëlettes, is also the most southerly island of Seychelles. It is swept almost bare of vegetation by the strong south-easterly winds which blow for much of the year, but is a haven for seabirds, notably 400,000 pairs of Sooty Terns and also Black-naped Terns, a species that breeds only on coral atolls. In February 2006, ICS discovered a previously unknown colony of Black-naped Terns on Bancs du Sable, the largest colony in the entire Afro-Malagasy region.
[ View Island and Information ]
Due west of Farquhar Atoll lies Astove, part of the Aldabra Group. The coral reefs are largely intact. This is reputed to be the best in the Indian Ocean and Astove has been listed as one of the top ten dive sites in the world. Ashore, rats limit seabird interest, but landbirds include endemic races of Souimanga Sunbird and Madagascar White-eye. There is an important nesting population of Green Turtle though poaching has had an impact.
[ View Island and Information ]
Cosmoledo Atoll is the most important unprotected site in Seychelles. It has the Indian Ocean’s largest population of Red-footed Booby and Seychelles’ largest population of Sooty Tern. It is the last breeding site for Brown Booby and one of only two remaining breeding sites for Masked Booby, exterminated elsewhere in the islands. The diving is excellent and the marine life is very rich. ICS has begun rehabilitation work including the extermination of introduced rats and cats and the control of invasive vegetation.
[ View Island and Information ]
West of Cosmoledo is Assumption, an island laid waste by guano mining. This wiped out most of the bird life including Abbott's Booby, which now breeds only on Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. A small human population remains, connected by air to Mahé. It stands in sharp contrast to neighbouring Aldabra as testimony to the impact of short-term ruthless exploitation. Yet there is the potential for an ambitious rehabilitation programme.
[ View Island and Information ]
Virtually untouched by the modern world, Aldabra is often known as the jewel in the crown of Seychelles'. It is the world's largest raised coral atoll with the atmosphere of an untamed wilderness. There is a small Research Station on Picard with a warden and staff of around ten employed by Seychelles Islands Foundation. Otherwise the atoll, one third of the landmass of Seychelles, is uninhabited. Aldabra was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982 as an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes
[ View Island and Information ]
These two islands lie to the south of the granitics. A hotel is being constructed on Platte, while there is a prawn farm on Coetivy. Both islands have significant numbers of nesting turtles while Coetivy also has a huge frigatebird roost.