Granitic island network to clamp down on poaching |16 March 2005

The network will link some of the more remote granitic islands like Aride, North and Fregate together with the main islands of Mahe and Praslin to better monitor poaching operations and safeguard protected and endangered species.

On Tuesday environment officials organised the first-ever training programme on enforcement for representatives from NGOs and private islands. The programme was designed to teach stakeholders in the new network about how to approach poachers, their rights in doing so and how to gather evidence that will hold up in court.
Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Ronny Jumeau, who launched the training programme, said the network reflected an important partnership that would draw on the combined expertise and resources of the government, the private sector, NGOs and civil society.

“We intend to formalise this coalition to protect the defenceless animals of the air, land and sea from human greed through a memorandum of understanding in the coming months,” he said.

The minister also had choice words directed at poachers in light of the new agreement: “You never know who is watching you, who will report you to the authorities, or when the call to the Greenline or the police is being made.”

Held at the Police Academy at Pointe Larue, the training workshop is being facilitated by police instructors.

According to Aride science and administration officer Frankie Hobro, staff on the island need to “learn exactly what is and isn’t legal,” in gathering evidence that could translate into the prosecution of poachers by authorities.

“It does no good to chase them away because they always come back,” she said, suggesting conviction would be a real deterrent.

Hundreds of thousands of Sooty Terns come to nest every year on Aride, which is managed by the Island Conservation Society (ICS). The island is a frequent target for poachers, who seek bird eggs and the meat of the birds themselves.

During the nesting season, pursuing poachers on land is difficult without disturbing the nest sites covering the island.

And with little manpower on Aride, poachers that come in teams often outnumber the island’s wardens, making face-to-face conflicts an unattractive option, Ms Hobro added.
Although there is a possibility that armed personnel could be allocated to Aride under the new network, surveillance and hard evidence are all the more important since there is a legal market for bird eggs outside of Aride.

Also under the new anti-poaching strategy, a speedy Marine Parks Authority boat will be on call 24 hours from Curieuse to assist islands like Aride and the neighbouring Booby Island, which Ms Hobro said is sometimes a nesting site for rare Roseate Terns. 
Poaching on the tiny, rocky island is even more difficult to spot since offenders access the island on the side facing Praslin, allowing them to go undetected from Aride’s line of sight.