It has indeed been a considerable time since I last visited Denis as a confluence of events and paperwork deadlines have kept me “trapped” on the main island of Mahe. This has in turn meant a marked decrease in my posts from an average of 8 posts a month through July to just 2 and 1 in August and September respectively.
This, by chance, has meant that visitors to the blog of late have been greeted upfront by photos of the Seychelles skink and a couple of species of crab – perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea or idealised perception of an idyllic tropical island. At this point it is timely for me to state that Denis is very much the epitome of a picture postcard tropical island and I am certain will meet the requirements of such from its visitors.
The spectre of brown lizards and hairy-legged crabs has however been visited upon me today by a member of the island’s marketing section concerned that the perception generated is inappropriate. Perception is of course - in these modern times of multi-media, sound bites, 24-hour news and spin-laden politics - increasingly everything with substance coming often at best second.
Lizards and crabs play a vital role in the island’s ecosystem breaking down detritus and recycling nutrients. It is imperative in the management of fragile islands that a comprehensive ecosystem approach to environment is utilised and that all native species, regardless of aesthetic appeal, are incorporated therein. Without one there is often not the other as each contributes to the health of the whole.
However, visitors to this blog and prospective visitors to Denis Island can rest assured that they will find yearnings for both perception and substance satisfied in the environmental management of the island. That is not to say all is perfect, the rehabilitation and restoration of the island’s ecosystem is a long term process but great steps have been made.
The key alien predators, cats and rats, were removed in 2000 and 2002 respectively. This coupled with extensive habitat rehabilitation paved the way for the introduction of rare and threatened species such as the Seychelles warbler, Seychelles fody, the endangered Seychelles magpie-robin and the first ever transfer of the critically endangered Seychelles paradise flycatcher.
Thankfully from a marketing perspective these birds are also pretty… see photos in sidebar.
Meanwhile the work continues on all creatures great and small.
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