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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Cousin and Cousine Islands sign historic conservation agreement

Conservation teams from Cousin Island Special Reserve and the privately-owned nature reserve and 4 luxury villa retreat Cousine, its near neighbour, met on Monday 11 April on Cousine island. The meeting resulted in a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) being signed by the two island Managers, Joel Souyave of Cousin, and Jock Henwood of Cousine. The MOU sets out the areas of conservation work on which the islands will now work in partnership, for the benefit of Seychelles wildlife conservation and eco-tourism.

Under the terms of the agreement, a number of areas for collaboration have been identified and consolidated. The teams will now hold regular discussions on joint activities, provide mutual support to eco-tourism activities, develop a common research programme that makes maximum use of the time and expertise of visiting researchers, allow for comparative studies, and the exchange of ideas and resources.


Cousin Island and Cousine (back) © Lyanne Brouwer

“The activities will be set out under a joint Systems Plan to be developed, which will bring together the common conservation programmes of the two islands” says James Hardcastle, Technical Advisor with Nature Seychelles, who is assisting the island managers.

‘It makes a lot of sense for us to integrate the islands’ management plans, and learn from each other’, said Jock Henwood of Cousine  ‘Although we are very close neighbours, in the past we haven’t been able to make the time to get to know each other and our different operations. It’s been a bit of a case of ‘so near, yet so far’, you could say. One of the exciting things about this MOU and the Systems Plan is that we can now bridge the gap and overcome that, which should have benefits for everyone.’ he added.  

“We understand that this is the first time that a Systems Plan  for different conservation sites will be set up and operational in Seychelles . It is indeed an historic occasion”, said Kerstin Henri of Nature Seychelles, Coordinator of the project.

‘We have already been able to share a lot of experience and expertise’, said Joel Souyave, Manager of Cousin Island Special Reserve. ‘Obviously there are differences in our respective operations, but there are principles and practices that are common to us both. We have already picked up some really useful practical tips, and we can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the conservation work we do by joining together in a planned manner where it makes sense to do so.’

Nature Seychelles, 15April 2005

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

Roche Caiman,

P.O. Box 1310, Mahe, Seychelles

Tel:+ 248 2519090

Email: nature@seychelles.net