‘Good conservation laws meaningless without strict enforcement’ |04 January 2018
Members of the Select Committee in the National Assembly have said they were impressed by the importance of Aride Island to the environment of Seychelles on the one hand, but concerned at the gaps in legislation and enforcement of the existing conservation laws on the other hand.
To that effect, they have made some recommendations to help in rectifying the problem.
This comes in the committee’s report they presented to the House after their fact-finding tour on Aride island, the northernmost granitic island of Seychelles.
They also described the island’s isolation as both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because it is the largest Seychelles island that has never had rats and a curse because the distance from Praslin and the fact that the only landing beach faces south means that it cannot be easily accessed by visitors during the southeast monsoon. As a result, tourism barely covers half the cost of running the island.
Aride was purchased and donated to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) of UK with funds from Christopher Cadbury (of the chocolate fame) in 1973.
To this day the Cadbury family continues to be generous donors to Aride but, today, management responsibility for the island has been passed by RSWT to the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles (ICS), a non-profit charitable organisation.
The island was transformed from a coconut plantation and vegetable producer into a habitat for wildlife.
The island hosts one of the most important population of sea bird population in the Indian Ocean.
In addition there are five endemic landbirds: Seychelles Magpie-robin (Pisantez), Seychelles Warbler (Timerl-de-Zil), Seychelles Fody (Toktok), Seychelles Blue Pigeon (PizonOlande) and Seychelles Sunbird (Kolibri).
“Conservation law in Seychelles is excellent. Enforcement is not. In regards to poaching and collection of eggs, the conservation staff on Aride report that during the seabird breeding season they sometimes feel under siege from poachers. Many of the poachers are known on Praslin including to the police. Yet there has not been one successful prosecution of a poacher in the history of Aride,” they said.
The report continued by saying to some extent, conservation law appears to have been designed to look impressive but there has not been the commitment to enforce it. For example, the Birds’ Eggs (Collection) Regulations sets quota for the legal collection of eggs at just 3 islands, Desnoeufs, Bird Island and L’Ilot, Fregate. Everywhere else it is illegal.
“Meanwhile at islands such as Aride where there is no quota and in theory there should be total protection, poaching continues unchecked. There is no point in protection in name only. What is needed is a system that is sustainable and where nature reserves are declared, they are respected,” said the report.
Staff of Aride said Ile au Fous, (also protected in theory as a nature reserve) was also swept clean by poachers last year.
The committee therefore proposed that:
• Aride Island markets its achievements and status more proactively with a view to attracting more visitors, especially from Seychelles. This as a means of raising more funds towards its work, that ICS considers offering overnight accommodation (perhaps in the renovated Grann Kaz) for interested visitors at a fee.
• All environment and conservation laws nationally are reviewed systematically, with a focus on their effective enforcement.
• Government steps up efforts to protect designated areas from poaching.
• Rangers on protected status islands are given the power of arrest and that government supports financially, protected areas such as Aride in order to ensure their sustainable future in the national interest.