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40 Years old
Coconuts to Conservation: Celebrating forty years of conservation successes on
Cousin Island Nature Reserve “Seychelles is a conservation success story”. We have heard this so often it may be becoming trite. But herein lays an intriguing and magnificent tale of disaster, loss, hope and glory. Back in the 60’s conservationists were deeply worried about the birds of Seychelles, those flagship species that often attract the first conservation concern. In 1969, in an indictment against the loss of birds in the Seychelles, the first Red Book declared, “It is scandalous that so many rare endemic birds are being allowed to disappear in Seychelles…” In that year’s Red book the following was written about 5 of the Seychelles endemic birds: Seychelles warbler: “…could well become extinct in our time..” Seychelles Flycatcher: “.. …sliding towards irreplaceable destruction” Seychelles scops owl: “…another Seychelles bird that is very near the verge of extinction..’ Seychelles Fody: “… some rare land birds are now very near the point of extinction” Seychelles Magpie robin: “...only the greatest fears can now be expressed for its survival” A year before this bleak forecast was published, the International Council for the Protection of Birds (ICBP),
20 Zwazo late 2008 - early 2009
now Birdlife International, had purchased Cousin Island. Its intention was to save the Seychelles Warbler. That year Cousin was declared a legally protected Nature Reserve. This became the turning point for not just the warbler but for many of the Seychelles endemics. Conservation on Cousin Island helped save some of the Seychelles endemic birds, globally important seabirds, Critically Endangered marine turtles, precious coral reefs and fish. Cousin was subsequently given Special Reserve status in 1974 and this has enhanced its protected status. To many experts the purchase of Cousin and the work began there with the installation of scientific wardens was the beginning of modern conservation in Seychelles. The scientific wardens were at the time the only full time scientists permanently in the country and were called upon to advise on all things conservation. With Cousin under its wing the ICBP (BirdLife) developed a permanent Representative in the country and many other projects and programs. By all counts it has had the longest running presence in Seychelles of any international environmental organization. No mean feat! Last year, 2008, Cousin Island Special Reserve celebrated 40 years of conservation success. Nature Sey-
chelles and her partners teamed up to organize an International Symposium for these celebrations dubbed “Coconuts to Conservation: Celebrating forty years of conservation successes on Cousin Island Nature Reserve”. The symposium was held from 17th to 19th December 2008 at the Centre for Environmental Education, in Roche Caiman, Mahe, Seychelles. Nature Seychelles is the Seychellois NGO that took over management of Cousin Island and it celebrated 10 years of existence at the same time.
Good news conservation The symposium helped to chart the forward motion of Cousin Island Special Reserve, which has led to its triumph. It drew the participation of the two top CEOs of the world’s authorities on birds; the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Graham Wynne and Mike Rands of Birdlife International. Other notable guests included Prof. Jan Komdeur of the university of Groningen, Dr. David. S. Richardson, University of East Anglia, Dr. Mathieu Le Corre, University of La Reunion and Prof. Tony Diamond of University of New Brunswick, and Nirmal Shah the Nature Seychelles CEO and an expert on Seychelles conservation among others. All have had a relationship with