News and Blogs

  1. Latest News
  2. Cousin Island News
  3. Blue Economy Seychelles
  4. Green Health Blog
  • Research: Roaming seabirds need ocean-wide protection, research shows

    Unlike other oceans, which are known to have specific “hotspots” where predators, including seabirds, gather in large numbers to feed, the Indian Ocean lacks such concentrated feeding areas, a recent paper has revealed. This lack of hotspots is particularly concerning given the various threats seabirds face due to human activities.[…]

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  • Saya de Malha leaves for its third dFAD clean-up expedition

    (Seychelles Nation) The Saya de Malha vessel of the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) left Port Victoria yesterday afternoon for its third drifting Fishing Aggregate Devices (dFAD) expedition clean-up exercise in Seychelles territorial waters and shores of the outer islands. As customary since the first expedition in October 2022, students from Seychelles[…]

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Coming Soon!

Coral Aquaculture Facility!

coral aquaculture web banner

We have started work on the Assisted Recovery of Corals (ARC) facility to revolutionise our coral reef restoration process Learn more

Find Us On ...

Implementing the SDGs

At Nature Seychelles we are committed to working with government, development partners and donors in implementing relevant actions, in particular, looking at certain goals where we can build on our existing strengths. Read more

Seychelles Wildlife

Natural environment of the Seychelles

Seychelles is a unique environment, which sustains a very special biodiversity. It is special for a number of different reasons. These are the oldest oceanic islands to be found anywhere...

Bird Watching

Seychelles is a paradise for birdwatchers, you can easily see the unique land birds, the important sea bird colonies, and the host of migrants and vagrants. Some sea bird...

Seychelles Black Parrot

Black Parrot or Kato Nwar in Creolee is brown-grey in colour, not truly black. Many bird experts treat it as a local form of a species found in Madagascar and...

Fairy Tern

The Fairy (or white) Tern is a beautiful bird seen on all islands in Seychelles, even islands like Mahe where they are killed by introduced rats, cats and Barn Owls....

Introduced Land Birds

A little over two hundred years ago, there were no humans living permanently in Seychelles. When settlement occurred, people naturally brought with them the animals and plants they needed to...

Native Birds

Although over 190 different species of bird have been seen on or around the central islands of Seychelles (and the number is increasing all the time), many of these are...

Migrant Shore Birds

Shallow seas and estuaries are very rich in invertebrate life. Many birds feed on the worms, crabs and shellfish in these habitats; often, they have long bills for probing sand...

Seychelles Magpie Robin

The most endangered of the endemic birds, Seychelles Magpie Robin or Pi Santez in Creole, came close to extinction in the late twentieth century; in 1970 there were only about...

Seychelles Blue Pigeon

The Seychelles Blue Pigeon or Pizon Olande in Creole, spends much of its life in the canopy of trees and eats the fruits of figs, bwa dir, ylang ylang and...

Seychelles White-eye

The Seychelles White-eye or Zwazo Linet in Creole, is rare and endemic. They may sometimes be seen in gardens and forest over 300m at La Misere, Cascade and a few...

Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher

The Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher or the Vev in Creole is endemic to Seychelles, you cannot find this bird anywhere else on earth. Although it was once widespread on...

Seychelles Sunbird

The tiny sunbird or Kolibri in Creole, is one of the few endemic species that has thrived since humans arrived in the Seychelles.

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Achievements

  • Stopped near extinctions of birds +

    Down-listing of the critically endangered Seychelles warbler from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened. Other Seychelles birds have also been saved including the Seychelles Magpie Robin, Seychelles Fody, and the Seychelles
  • Restored whole island ecosystems +

    We transformed Cousin Island from a coconut plantation to a thriving vibrant and diverse island ecosystem. Success achieved on Cousin was replicated on other islands with similar conservation activities.
  • Championed climate change solutions +

    Nature Seychelles has risen to the climate change challenge in our region in creative ways to adapt to the inevitable changing of times.
  • Education and Awareness +

    We have been at the forefront of environmental education, particularly with schools and Wildlife clubs
  • Sustainable Tourism +

    We manage the award-winning eco-tourism programme on Cousin Island started in 1970
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Does the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission have a poor environmental record?

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), headquartered in Seychelles, has been reported as having one of the poorest environmental performances of all the 19 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations of the world. This was highlighted in a BirdLife International report launched at the  26th Session of the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries being held this week in  Italy. The BirdLife review identifies the regional fisheries organizations that are not preventing the slaughter of the world’s albatrosses in longline fisheries.

The conclusions of the report were based on criteria drawn from principles established in the United Nations Law of the Sea and other agreements that set standards for the regional fisheries organizations to conserve fish and other species. These organizations are required to manage target species as well as the overall ecosystem, including human fishing communities. The approach aims not only to protect marine wildlife and the environment but also to maintain and even increase long-term fisheries’ production.

Dead seabirds from one fishing trip by a single longliner (c) Nature SeychellesBirdLife says that the IOTC and two other regional fisheries organizations are doing little or nothing to reduce the bycatch of seabirds, sharks and turtles in their fisheries, while at the same time many of their fish stocks have declined. It states that the IOTC has no catch quotas, and no measures to either collect data on, or reduce, bycatch The IOTC has as members Australia, China, Comoros, Eritrea, the EU, France, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, The Philippines, Seychelles, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, UK, Vanuatu.

Populations of albatrosses, dolphins, sharks and turtles are declining rapidly, partly because regional fisheries organizations are ignoring international laws requiring action to safeguard marine wildlife and tackle pirate fishing, the report states. Of the 21 albatross species, 19 are under global threat of extinction, largely because they are victims of fisheries’ bycatch. Seabirds, particularly albatrosses, are becoming increasingly threatened at a faster rate globally than all other species-groups of birds. Measures to reduce seabird bycatch are available and many  are inexpensive and easy to operate, BirdLife says.

I had written earlier in this column  that albatrosses populations are found outside Seychelles territory, so their bycatch is not a direct problem for us. However, as a conservation champion we have to be concerned about the impact of longlining fleets. As a member of a regional fisheries organization we also have to be aware of international agreements that require that organization to take conservation measures. Furthermore, we have to be certain that pirate fishing vessels are not using our waters.

Partners & Awards

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Our History

Since 1998.

Seychelles Nature, Green HealthClimate Change, Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainability Organisation

@CousinIsland Manager

Facebook: http://goo.gl/Q9lXM

Roche Caiman, Mahe

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Contact Us

Centre for Environment & Education

Roche Caiman,

P.O. Box 1310, Mahe, Seychelles

Tel:+ 248 2519090

Email: nature@seychelles.net