Backyard nature: Appreciating the Eden at our doorstep

One morning, I woke up to a very well-connected neighbour setting up a house next to mine. A palm spider, the ubiquitous arachnid known to many of us, had spun its web across the stairs using my balcony and staircase railing as anchors. Each morning I had to duck under the extensive web to avoid walking into it. I feared not the spider but breaking the silky strands of this valiant spinner. In time, the lady's web became extremely dense, with small males and insects scattered around her. I would watch her deftly take insects for a meal.

Seychelles tree frogs rest on trees by day

In Seychelles, we are extremely lucky to be surrounded by nature. Take a 360-degree turn and you can see some of our animal neighbours. You might find lizards in the house, bees in the garden, millipedes curled up on your kitchen floor, earthworms under a log or mushrooms on the ground. The wild lives close to us islanders.

We call nature close to our homes “backyard nature”. It includes plants, animals, and other living things that inhabit our gardens and local ecosystems - from small forests, gardens, bird baths, and ponds.

Globally, backyard nature is celebrated and promoted for its aesthetic value, as an essential habitat for wild flora and fauna, and as an accessible way to connect with nature.

A caecilian limbless and wormlike

Having nature in your backyard fosters appreciation and care for the environment. It provides mental and physical stimulation through physical activities such as gardening and walking. It gives children and adults alike a chance to learn and explore, from identifying different types of birds to studying butterfly lifecycles.

If we look, our wild neighbours are all around us, sometimes in plain sight.

Should you wish to explore this wonderful Eden at our doorstep, here are some of what you can expect to see depending on your location on the granitic islands.

Mudskippers are entertaining

There are trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses, sedges, mangroves, and vegetation of all kinds.

As well as introduced house geckos, there are endemic green geckos and Seychelles skinks.

There are endemic land birds such as the Seychelles sunbird, blue pigeon, kestrel, swiftlet, bulbul, and paradise flycatcher. Native and introduced land birds include the turtle dove, moorhen, mynah, and Madagascar fody.

For seabirds, you might see white terns and white-tailed tropicbirds. Shorebirds, waders, migrant and vagrant birds include herons, egrets, bitterns, plovers, and turnstones.

Mammals include tenrecs and fruit bats, while reptiles include tortoises and mud terrapins. Snakes, particularly the Seychelles wolf snake are often spotted, as are amphibians like the Seychelles tree frog and the caecilian - the limbless and wormlike. Fish include mud skippers and rock skippers, and crustaceans include marine, mangrove, and land crabs.

Land invertebrates include snails and shell-less slugs, spiders, millipedes, and centipedes, and insects include bees, wasps, dragonflies and damselflies, butterflies, beetles, stick and leaf insects, crickets, and praying mantises.

One way to ensure this Eden thrives is by having a backyard that invites wildlife. Trees and vegetation are an essential part of a healthy backyard nature environment, as is having a water feature.