The old adage goes ‘don’t count your chicks before they hatch’ but Nature Seychelles is counting its proverbial chicks in terms of the success of the The Sanctuary as a safe haven for birds to raise their young. For the past several weeks we have been keenly monitoring the activity of a pair of breeding Grey Herons (Ardae cinerea) at Nature Seychelles’ wetland sanctuary in Roche Caiman.

Cousin Island staff in a souvenir photo

There has been a lot of discussion regarding payment of a13 month salary to employees of the civil service. For Nature Seychelles this is not a new concept. The Cousin island Special Reserve Scheme of Service states that a 13 month salary is provided when a Reserve staff has performed well and agrees to sign a new annual contract.

“We want to be a partner in this exciting new direction,” says Dr Nirmal Shah, Nature Seychelles CEO, on the creation of a Blue Economy Centre at Nature Seychelles. “Many people are still unclear about this new and game changing concept, so we have recently created a Blue Economy Centre headed by economist Kerstin Henri and have already established knowledge management tools.”

A magpie robin on Cousin Island Special Reserve by Martijn Hammers

 One of the unique and distinctive birds that make the Seychelles holiday islands paradise so beguiling is in trouble.

The Seychelles magpie robin, one of the species where intensive and expensive conservation efforts have conjured sustainable populations against the odds, has been hit by a mystery disease threatening its survival. On one island numbers have halved in four months.