In 2018 we’re all about numbers at Nature Seychelles. 50 years since Cousin Island Special Reserve became a protected nature reserve and 20 years of the existence of Nature Seychelles as a conservation organisation, the RSPB Partner in Seychelles.

 A lucky group of tourists witnessed as a turtle was laying her eggs - taking photos from a safe distance by Emma Jones

Every year on Cousin Island we roll into another turtle season in August and we quickly find ourselves deeper and deeper in the sand as the days turn the corner to November – the height of the Hawksbill turtle season. From dawn till dusk starting in October, we keep our eyes peeled for turtle tracks to or from the beach and turtles approaching the beach or heading back to sea.

I had the privilege of working with Dieter Oschadleus, the bird-ringing Coordinator from SAFRING (The South African Bird Ringing Unit). He came out to Cousin Island to officially register me through SAFRING based on my level of competency and ability to demonstrate a recognized level of bird ringing, mist netting and database updating.

 Its not all wildlife monitoring, beach profiling is conducted on a regular basis on Cousin Island

What do you do when you have a long-running conservation success story on an island paradise? Nature Seychelles, a leading conservation organisation in the Western Indian Ocean region decided to share years of experience with aspiring young conservationists or people who simply want to try their hand at conservation, hence the Conservation Boot Camp program which began in May 2017.