The Founding Trustees of Island Conservation Society were motivated by the following rationale:
Small islands play a key role in the conservation of biodiversity. A high percentage of the biodiversity of the planet is concentrated on islands, giving them an extremely high importance relative to their size.
Islands are highly vulnerable. For example, a large proportion of the threatened birds of the planet are island endemics and 90% of avian extinctions have occurred on islands.
Colonisation by man has had a traumatic impact upon small islands. It is necessary to focus on where this impact has been greatest to reverse the trend.
Small and remote islands are the best hope for the conservation of the original biodiversity of island states. Their small size permits ease of control of factors including vegetation management, eradication of alien predators, translocation of native species, etc. The negative impact of man has also been significantly reduced on islands with difficult access.
Island Conservation Society, was registered as an NGO in Seychelles in April 2001. The articles state the goal and mission of the organisation as follows: