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

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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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Avian Flu and Migratory Birds

This is the third article I have written in this newspaper this year on the Avian flu crisis. In the first in February I warned that the avian flu may become a pandemic. About two months ago, my second article focused on the issue of migratory birds and the risk of spreading the H5N1 avian virus.
But people are panicking and this is largely because of conflicting or false reports from international media sources. It has been reported that migratory birds are spreading the H5N1. Although this may be probable there is still no scientific data collected to prove it. In any case Seychelles is not at risk from migratory birds as I said previously.

In my statement on SBC Television last month I said that Seychelles was not on the Eurasian migratory flyways. This apparently contradicted a map showed on the BBC that marked the route across the Seychelles. This map is plainly wrong.

For the Africa region there are four main entry/exit points for migratory birds. Two, the Eastern Mediterranean Bab al Mandab and the River Jordan to Nile Valley corridor take birds directly to East Africa but not Seychelles. We do get vagrants that appear occasionally or annually as individuals or in small numbers.

Of the migratory species that have died from H5N1, the Little Egret, Ruddy Shelduck, Peregrine Falcon, Black-headed Gull , possibly  Brown-headed Gull, occur as individuals or very small numbers in Seychelles.  Other water bird species such as garganey or sarcel  occur in small numbers annually but have not been recorded with the H5N1. Individuals of  the feral Pigeon and the Grey Heron or florentin have also died from the H5N1. But these species are resident in Seychelles and do not pose a risk.

The risk from H5N1 arriving in Seychelles through migratory birds is very low for other reasons. The virulence of H5N1 causes death in birds thus leaving few opportunities for long distance dispersal. Also, the contact between wild birds, poultry and humans has to be extremely close and in Seychelles wild birds rarely come into close contact with poultry or humans on a regular basis.

In addition, hygiene in Seychelles and biosecurity on our poultry farms are far better than in many countries.  Moreover, being sealocked, Seychelles does not have land borders with any country.  This makes smuggling of birds or bird products very unlikely and in any case imports of live birds are not allowed.

Nevertheless, people should not handle vagrant birds, or visit bird farms and zoos overseas. Sooty terns or golet whose eggs are exploited in Seychelles are not seen as a risk because it is difficult to see how they can be infected with and carry the H5N1.

By Nirmal Shah, Nature Seychelles' CEO, published on The People Newspaper, Seychelles

Partners & Awards

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Our History

Since 1998.

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

@CousinIsland Manager

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Roche Caiman, Mahe

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Centre for Environment & Education

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P.O. Box 1310, Mahe, Seychelles

Tel:+ 248 2519090

Email: nature@seychelles.net