ICS Opens Conservation Centre on Seychelles' Platte Island

This article by Betymie Bonnelame originally appeared on Seychelles News Agency.

(Seychelles News Agency) - Conservation efforts on Platte Island in Seychelles have been significantly bolstered with the recent opening of a new conservation centre managed by the Island Conservation Society (ICS).    

According to a press communique from ICS, less than a year after the Waldorf Astoria Hotel of the Hilton Group opened on the island, it was established to ensure the protection and preservation of the island's unique biodiversity. This includes the largest nesting population of hawksbill turtles in Seychelles.

The recent opening of the Conservation Centre coincided with a visit by the trustees of the Platte Foundation, a registered not-for-profit organisation based in Seychelles.

During their visit, the trustees, which included representatives from ICS, Islands Development Company(IDC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment met with the management of the Hilton Group on the island. The delegation also visited the facilities available for a conservation team and discussed the roles and responsibilities ĺof each partner on the island.

Located 140 kilometres from Mahe, the main island, Platte Island, known for its low topography and proximity, has a history of guano excavation, which modified much of its natural biodiversity. The island was the first refuge for leprosy sufferers in Seychelles and a designated quarantine island for ships.

The new conservation centre aims to safeguard what remains of the island's natural environment and implement projects that will benefit both the island and its visitors.

Gregory Berke, director of Conservation and Science at ICS, said the new centre "will allow ICS to begin documenting the wildlife on the island and implement necessary conservation activities. Prior to the opening of the centre we had very little information on the flora and fauna of the island. We can now devise the proper management measures to ensure the effective conservation of the different species."

A highlight of the conservation work on the island will be the monitoring of a large lagoon teeming with marine life that serves as a feeding ground for various marine species, most notably for hawksbill turtles, a critically endangered species.

As part of its annual conservation plan, ICS intends to monitor seabird populations, including lesser noddies, which will contribute valuable data to the national census. Several species, including sooty terns, have become extinct or have not been recorded on the island in recent years, and the team is keen to monitor, record and witness their return.

The ICS considers this project an exciting time as much is still unknown about the island.

"We are proud to be the first conservation organisation to have a permanent presence on the island and contribute towards the national database for several species," added Berke.

This is the 7th Conservation Centre that the ICS is managing in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. The society currently has one centre in all Seychelles' six groups of islands.

The centre on Platte Island comes a year after opening a centre in the Aldabra Group, where a team is stationed for six months on both the Astove Atoll and Cosmoledo Atoll.