It has been long since the normally busy shores of Cousin Island Special Reserve have seen any form of tourism activity. But now, ahead of the possible re-opening of the country's borders, the island that belongs to birds is preparing to receive visitors and opened as of 22 March 2021.

Once a degraded and loss-making coconut plantation with uncontrolled exploitation of threatened species such as turtles and seabirds, Cousin Island in Seychelles was restored into a world-class award-winning reserve for species conservation. This is the story of Cousin's turnaround and what this success story has meant for global conservation.

Nature Seychelles is among a concerned group of more than 100 conservation organisations, civil society groups, artisanal fisher associations and responsible businesses, including retailers that support socially responsible and environmentally sustainable tuna fisheries, who have called on the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to address the harmful environmental impacts associated with the drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) used by industrial tuna purse seiners in their fishing operations.

A  study by seabird researchers that includes Dr. Nirmal Shah of Nature Seychelles, has shown that albatrosses and their close relatives the large petrels spend 39% of their time in places where no single country has jurisdiction. Albatrosses and large petrels are the world’s most threatened group of birds, with over half of the species at risk of extinction. This finding highlights the need for international cooperation to adequately ensure their conservation.