New Landscapes, New Lives is a landscape restoration initiative of the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24 2SG, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1726 811 911www.newlandscapesnewlives.org

and The Seychelles

Tourism industry visions of pristine tropical island paradises often belie some challenging threats to their people, environments and economies. They are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts; their ecosystems with many unique species are globally important; pressure for land can lead to extensive habitat destruction and introduced species and diseases can run rampant. In addition, many island nations lack the expertise, infrastructure and the human and financial resources necessary to fully understand and manage these threats. It is therefore not surprising that islands have claimed the greatest number of man-made extinctions in the world.

The Republic of the Seychelles epitomises this situation: its 115 idyllic islands have a combined landmass of only 455 km2 scattered across 1.4 million km2 of Indian Ocean. Some are low-lying coral islands while those in the east are mostly hilly and granitic. The latter are the world’s oldest oceanic islands with unique biodiversity possessing 70 endemic plant species, including the spectacular Coco de Mer, which produces the largest seed in the world and many unique animal species. 43% of the land surface is officially protected (not including several marine protected areas). People arrived on the islands almost 250 years ago so many habitats have not yet been completely destroyed. The small population of 87,000 lives predominantly on the granitic islands, particularly on the main island of Mahé where the steep terrain rises to over 900 metres, exacerbating the pressure for land.

Seychelles relies heavily on its natural environment for its two main sources of revenue – fishing and tourism, the latter accounting for over 150,000 visitors per year. In recent years, the islands’ biodiversity has been marketed to diversify the range of tourism products and activities. Consequently, there is a growing imperative for locals and visitors alike to care for their environment; however, there remain significant threats to the unique forests in particular, namely:

Introduced and invasive species – rats and cats prey on native animals and the remaining forests on the main islands are under threat from introduced plants such as Albizia (Paraserianthes falcataria), Clidemia hirta, Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), Prune de France (Chrysobalanus icaco), Wild Guava (Psidium cattleianum) and invasive climbers such as Lalianne d’Argent (Argyreia nervosa), Philodendron and Thunbergia.

Habitat loss caused by a growing population and tourism developments, particularly on the main granitic islands

Small populations at risk of extinction due to random events and inbreeding depression

Climate change – there is nowhere laterally or vertically for the movement of plants and animals as the climate changes

Cloud forest

Indian Ocean

MADAGASCAR

SEYCHELLES

INDIA

AFRICA

YEMEN

MALDIVES

Restoring Seychelles islands ecosystemsSeychelles has a renowned reputation for restoration ecology. Growing public awareness of environmental issues and the development of tourism over the past 40 years focusing on pristine environments as a driver, has shifted land-use away from plantation agriculture to tourism-related funding for conservation/ restoration. International funding from donor countries and the Global Environment Facility covers the large initial financial outlay in restoring island ecosystems.

Island ecosystem restoration occurs in several stages:

1. Remove introduced predators such as rats (and cats)2. Control/ removal of introduced plants3. Re-introduction of appropriate native plant species4. Re-introduction of appropriate native animal species

Such efforts are expensive and require long-term funding and sufficient capacity and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Seychelles boasts several examples of successful island ecosystem restoration, namely: North, Cousin, Cousine and Aride, with onging work on Frégate, Bird and Denis islands. It is no surprise that several of these islands now possess five-star hotel resorts that provide a source of sustainable funding for island management.

Compared to the smaller islands, restoration efforts on Mahé, the largest island, are compounded by the scale and difficulty of accessing the landscape. Eradicating rats or invasive plants is impossible so control measures are the next best option, requiring ongoing effort with accompanying ongoing costs.

Eden has worked with the Seychelles government and other bodies on a range of conservation/ restoration issues since 2000. Some key areas are outlined below:

Towards Sustainable Management of Lodoicea maldivica (Coco de Mer): Collaboration between the Seychelles, Eden and the UK’s University of Reading enabled a Seychelles national to pursue a doctorate on the population management of the Coco de Mer – a flagship palm species of economic importance.

Horticulture and endemic flora: Funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative, Eden and the Seychelles government developed propagation and establishment protocols for over half of the islands’ endemic flora, focusing on technical development and capacity-building. The island has now established its own Plant Conservation Action Group which, together with other agencies and NGOs, produced the National Strategy for Plant Conservation 2005-2010.

Investigating the biology and conservation of an endemic plant: Eden funded a doctorate with the University of Reading to investigate the role of ex-situ strategies to support the in-situ conservation of plant species, leading to the first Seychelles’ plant species recovery plan for the critically-endangered Impatiens gordonii.

Coco de Mer palm tree

Clearing invasive plants

Unique Impatiens hybrid bred to raise funds for conservation: Eden bred a hybrid from Seychelles impatiens species, including the endangered I. gordonii. The hybrid – Impatiens ‘Ray of Hope’ – is used at Eden to promote island conservation issues and to raise funding through plant sales for conservation in the Seychelles.

Public awareness and education: A Seychelles exhibit is on display in Eden’s Rainforest Biome, profiling the importance of island conservation and restoration to over one million visitors annually. In 2008, Eden exhibited artwork on plant evolution by Angela Easterling – the culmination of over five years work with Eden and the Seychelles. Two Chelsea Flower Show exhibits in consecutive years with the University of Reading and RBG, Kew (funded by the UK government) highlighted islands’ species recovery work. Eden has also contributed to the development of the Seychelles National Biodiversity Centre.

Facilitation and constituency-building: In 2007, Eden contributed to an international workshop in the Seychelles to inform the government’s “Seychelles Plant Conservation Research Agenda 2008-2015”. The following year, Eden and the Seychelles government collaborated in a week-long workshop to inform the development of a national strategy for raising public awareness and education towards sustainable development in the islands.

These (and other) examples from the Seychelles demonstrate that, in order to achieve landscape restoration success, it is important to look beyond the immediate ecological science imperative and consider a more holistic approach that integrates sound horticultural practices, awareness-raising, inter-disciplinary collaboration and the sustainable management of economically-important species, while encouraging livelihoods derived from ecologically-sensitive practices.

Further information: Seychelles Island Foundation (www.sif.sc) Seychelles Plant Conservation Action Group (www.seychelles-conservation.org)Island Conservation Society, (www.islandconservationsociety.com)Nature Seychelles (www.natureseychelles.org)

Date: Text: Images: Design:

July 2010A Griffiths and PH Whitbread-Abrutat, Eden Project, UK and F Fleischer-Dogley, Seychelles Islands Foundation A Griffiths and PH Whitbread-Abrutat, Eden Project, UK, Seychelles Islands Foundation, and Christopher Kaiser-BunburyD Watt, Eden Project, UK

Eden Project is a registered charity, number 1093070

New Landscapes, New Lives is a landscape restoration initiative of the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24 2SG, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1726 811 911www.newlandscapesnewlives.org

Impatiens Ray of Hope