Henna Tanskanen was working as a Visiting Warden to Cousin Island Special Reserve from January to March 2006 as part of Nature Seychelles’ Experience Exchange Programme under the GEF/World Bank Project. Henna reports on her experience on the island.
My stay in Cousin Island, Seychelles, consisted of so many little extraordinary new experiences forming a big warm memory into my mind and heart. It is hard to comprehend the bewilderment of seeing such a
rich flora and fauna in a tiny island, one of a kind, I hadn’t heard before. So beautiful and so unspoiled. Everyone, who has visited Cousin, knows what I am talking about.
Living in the island for almost 3 months and experiencing the wildlife around you so intensively everyday, you become part of the island and start living and thinking like the island would. It is then when I understood how fragile the system really is. Everything and every creature need to play part in a ‘well written plan’ for the island to exist for others to experience.
As I met people visiting the reserve almost every day, I realised that the island is an inspiration to many people to see beyond their daily lives, and it makes them understand the importance of conservation for the well being of nature and us equally.
I am sure that these people will take these experiences to be part of their lives. As I see it, this is the key for sustainable future, so that these remarkable small experiences and places on earth can be preserved.
It is important to see beyond the comprehended beauty of nature and see the outstanding changes that places like Cousin Island and people working in Nature Seychelles spark in people in different parts of the world.
Since I left from Cousin Island, I have cherished the lessons learned, the memories that are made to last for a lifetime, and I will take these experiences and apply them in my future life as well.
Thank you for the opportunity to work with you and I hope all the best for Nature Seychelles in the efforts of making nature conservation to be part of all of us!