Conservation                                                                                                                                

Birds      Turtles       Tortoises       Beach                                                   

It was reported  by a passing ship in 1776 that the island was "covered with birds innumerable"

When the current owners bought the island in 1967 nature and its delicate environment had been forgotten about and the 'innumerable' birds had been dramatically reduced in numbers and confined only to the northernmost end of the island.

Between 1896 and 1906, 17,000 tons of Guano were removed from the island and exported to the sugarcane fields of Mauritius. A coconut plantation was then established together with cash crops such as papaya and cotton.

In the 37 years that Bird Island has been owned by Mr. Savy and his partners, the story of the island is one of maximization of the island’s conservation value in parallel with the development of a small tourist facility, Bird Island Lodge. The programme adopted from the outset comprised one of the world’s first ecotourism ventures, and has been extremely successful in both aspects of conservation and tourism.

Achievements to date

• Since 1967 management of vegetation in the Sooty Tern breeding area has increased the colony size from c.18,000 pairs in the 1960s to c.750,000 pairs today.

• Support for research on Sooty Tern biology in relation to egg harvest that commenced in 1972; and continued support for the extension of this work from 1993 to the present.

• Cessation of turtle harvesting on the island has led to Bird Island hosting good populations of both Green and Hawksbill Turtles, and this is now backed by support for tagging of female turtles that come ashore to lay, and monitoring of the success of nests as part of a wider turtle monitoring programme in Seychelles.

• Eradication of rats and rabbits, both accidentally introduced, has led to an increase in the populations of Brown Noddies, which now nest on the ground, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and White-tailed Tropicbirds.

• Support for a PhD study of the relative success of tree and ground-nesting Common Noddies.

• Support to Nature Seychelles (Birdlife partner in Seychelles) to monitor all species of seabird breeding on Bird Island.

• Support to visiting scientists investigating the island's geography, flora and marine life.

• Maintenance of an education programme for visitors to the island, including nature walks given by a trained member of the hotel staff and a display of posters, in the restaurant building, that explain research and monitoring programmes on the island.

• The setting up and maintenance of a small weather station which  provides regular information for the Seychelles Meteorological Office.

1994 Bird Island was runner up in the British Airways "Tourism for Tomorrow Award". Currently updating membership of Green Globe, an international Ecotourism organization that promotes active conservation participation and sustainable development within the tourism industry.