Seychelles

África

125

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Seychelles is the only archipelago in the world made up of granite islands in the middle of an ocean: its inner islands are fragments of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, not emerged volcanoes, which explains why they keep very ancient lineages of plants and animals. To that group are added dozens of outer coral islands, among them Aldabra atoll, one of the largest on the planet and virtually uninhabited. The Vallée de Mai, on Praslin, keeps a forest of coco de mer palms, whose seed is the largest and heaviest in the plant kingdom. The islands hold seabirds in massive colonies, endemic land birds brought back from minute populations and coral reefs that have suffered severe bleaching and are studied as a laboratory of resilience.

The nature of Seychelles

National animal: The Aldabra giant tortoise is the emblematic animal; the Seychelles black parrot of Praslin is the national bird

Did you know?

Aldabra atoll holds around one hundred thousand giant tortoises, the largest population of giant land tortoises in the world, far above that of the Galápagos. There also lives a flightless rail, the last flightless bird left in the Indian Ocean, whose history is astonishing: the atoll sank beneath the sea some 136,000 years ago and its fauna disappeared, and when it re-emerged the species colonised it again from Madagascar and lost the ability to fly for a second time.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Oriental (archipielago del Oceano Indico)Seychelles destina 42% de su territorio a la conservacion, una de las mayores proporciones del mundo

Climate

•Ecuatorial humedo (Af), calido y humedo todo el año, sin estacion seca marcada

Main biomes

•Bosque granitico insular (islas graniticas de Mahe, Praslin, Silhouette, entre las mas antiguas geologicamente del mundo)
•Vegetacion de atolon coralino en las islas exteriores (Aldabra y otras)
•Isla granítica oceánica
•Atolón coralino
•Bosque de palmas endémicas
•Arrecife de coral
•Manglar de atolón
•Colonia de aves marinas
•Litoral de granito

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Arrecifes de coral y praderas marinas en todo el archipielago
•Atolon de Aldabra (Patrimonio Mundial, mayor poblacion mundial de tortuga gigante de Aldabra, mas de 150.000 individuos)

Flagship wildlife

•Tortuga gigante de Aldabra
•Coco de mer (palmera endemica con la semilla mas grande del reino vegetal)
•Papamoscas del paraiso de Seychelles (endemico, restringido a una sola isla)
•Murcielago frugivoro de Seychelles
•Rascón de Aldabra
•Loro negro de Seychelles
•Zorro volador de Seychelles
•Charrán blanco
•Rabijunco colirrojo
•Tortuga carey
•Tiburón ballena
•Curruca de Seychelles
•Cangrejo cocotero

Notable endemic species

•Aprox. 60% de los animales y 50% de las plantas de Seychelles son endemicos, uno de los niveles de endemismo mas altos del mundo para un archipielago
•Coco de mer, palmera monotipica endemica restringida a las islas de Praslin y Curieuse
•76 especies de plantas endemicas estrictas (9% de la flora total) en el Parque Nacional Marino de Morne Seychellois
•12 de 250 especies de aves son endemicas, incluido el buho papamoscas de patas descalzas, redescubierto en 1959 tras creerse extinto
•Rascón de Aldabra
•Loro negro de Seychelles
•Curruca de Seychelles
•Papamoscas del Paraíso de Seychelles
•Rana de Gardiner

Notable threatened species

•Buho papamoscas de patas descalzas (redescubierto en 1959, extremadamente raro)
•Papamoscas del paraiso y curruca de Seychelles (ambas rescatadas de niveles criticos mediante programas de conservacion intensivos)
•44% de los reptiles endemicos catalogados como amenazados

Notable protected areas

•Atolon de Aldabra (Patrimonio Mundial)
•Reserva Natural de la Isla Cousin (exito emblematico de conservacion de aves)
•Parque Nacional Marino de Morne Seychellois
•Valle de Mai
•Parque Nacional Marino de Sainte Anne
•Isla de Cousin
•Isla de Aride
•Parque Nacional del Morne Seychellois

Main conservation threats

•Perdida historica de biodiversidad tras la colonizacion humana (extincion de varias especies de tortuga gigante granitica, un loro y un cocodrilo de agua salada)
•Especies invasoras introducidas
•Fragmentacion de habitat en tierras bajas

Notable natural phenomena

•Seychelles es reconocida como un caso de exito en conservacion insular, con varias especies rescatadas de la practica extincion mediante programas dedicados

Conservation

The Seychelles warbler was down to barely twenty birds on a single island and has recovered through translocations to predator-free islands. Aldabra is a World Heritage Site and one of the least altered atolls on the planet.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Cousin and Aride between April and October for seabird colonies. Aldabra, with very restricted access, for giant tortoises. The waters of Mahé between October and November for whale sharks.

Sources: animalia.bio - Animals of Seychelles | One Earth - Granitic Seychelles Forests | seyvillas.com - Seychelles Animals | Ministry of Environment Seychelles - Biodiversity

Grassland Islands Ocean

Parks and reserves

Nature Reserve (atoll)

Aldabra

The second largest raised coral atoll in the world; it holds the largest population of giant tortoises anywhere

View park Nature Reserve

Vallee de Mai

Primary forest of coco de mer palms, bearing the largest and heaviest seed in the plant kingdom, which grows naturally on just two islands in the world

View park National Park

Morne Seychellois

The largest protected area in the Seychelles, with the jellyfish tree, a species thought extinct for a century.

View park

Diving and snorkelling

Remote atoll

Aldabra Atoll

One of the largest coral atolls in the world: a ring of four islands enclosing a shallow lagoon, some 34 km long by 14 wide, surrounded by a fringing reef. The islands rise on a limestone bed between 0.6 and 1.6 km thick and today stand about 8 m above sea level.

View dive site Granite reef