Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles
Location
Aldabra, Seychelles, Western Indian Ocean
Description
Aldabra Atoll (924' S, 4620' E) is a large (34 km long, 14.5 km maximum width, area of 155 km2) raised atoll located in the Western Indian Ocean. It is situated 1150 km southwest of Victoria (the capital of Seychelles on the island of Mahe) and 420 km north of Madagascar. Aldabra has been described as “one of the wonders of the world” by Sir David Attenborough, as its isolation in a remote area of the Indian Ocean, combined with an inhospitable terrestrial environment, has preserved it in a relatively natural state. Although increasing levels of human stresses are contributing to the decline of the world’s coral reefs, Aldabra has thus far escaped the worst of these direct stresses, and provides an ideal natural laboratory for studying tropical marine ecosystems and related environments.
Aldabra Atoll. Photo © Pierre Pistorius
Aldabra’s climate is heavily influenced by the northwest monsoon winds from November to March, bringing the heaviest rainfall, with southeast trade winds blowing throughout the remainder of the year. Additionally, its has been severely affected by the 1998 coral bleaching event, experiencing coral mortality of approximately 66% at 10 m depth, and 38% at 20 m depth. In addition to these natural disturbances and global climate change, the Aldabra area is also subjected to low-level human threats, including illegal fishing, poaching, and pollution.
The Aldabra Marine Protected Area was initially designated to stretch 1 km around the atoll to protect reef areas, with the following goals:
- To protect marine processes, protect biological and genetic diversity, as well as ecological systems; and to conserve all naturally occurring species, communities and habitats
- To focus scientific research and monitoring towards conservation, restoration, and maintenance of biological and genetic diversity of marine environments for effective management
- To maintain and uphold appropriate guidelines and management policies for human impacts resulting from tourism
- To educate the public through reports, scientific papers, local education programs, documentaries, and limited, strictly-controlled nature conservation tourism
Aldabra with Marine Program sites marked 1-12. Image courtesy Aldabra Marine Program
The Aldabra Marine Program began its first resilience study in 1998 with the assistance of the IUCN and CORDIO. Surveys were used for monitoring purposes, and developed to understand coral reefs and other components of the protected area. In 2008 the IUCN-CORDIO resilience assessments followed. Because this area is essentially pristine, barely touched by local human impacts but affected by climate change induced coral bleaching, it can serve as a reference site for other resilience case studies. Therefore, a communication campaign was also developed to improve national and international communication concerning the importance of the area. Results of this campaign include an Aldabra foundation exhibit that will open in Paris in May, 2008, and two photographic books detailing the ecology of Aldabra.
Despite the area’s success, financial sustainability is a major challenge. Aldabra relies on income from a sister Protected Area, Vallee de Mai, but needs alternative sources of funding. Like other areas, the problem of local capacity for dealing with marine monitoring is also an issue. Currently, insufficient resources are available to police the presence of illegal vessels in Aldabra’s MPA. Last, the MPA boundary may need to be broader to allow for conservation of some organisms such as sharks, and prevent illegal fishers from targeting Aldabra’s east coast.
Sea turtle research at Aldabra. Photo © Pierre Pistorius
Lessons Learned
- From discussions of resilience with respect to coral reef monitoring/assessments, scientific findings including resilience principles can be effectively incorporated/interpreted for management purposes.
- Having flexibility to adaptively manage is critical to respond to changing trends. Anticipating change, such as increased tourism, is important and can promote good use before problems begin. Limiting the potential for damage, by installing mooring buoys before impacts are significant, promotes reef health and good stewardship of the resource.
- Even when there is not an obvious problem with illegal activity, a well-established enforcement program is critical. This discourages those that might take advantage of remote areas or areas assumed to be seldom visited by park staff.
- Interesting marine resource observations are often reported by dive operators and visitors to the area and should be utilized when possible.
- There has been no designated no-take zone on Aldabra’s outer reefs, which makes it difficult to assess the impact that the small scale subsistence fishery has on reef resources. The timely designation of such no-take zones could prove invaluable.
Lead Organizations
Seychelles Islands Foundation
Aldabra Station
La Ciota Building
Mont Fleuri
P.O. Box 853
Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles
Monitoring reef condition at Aldabra Atoll. Photo © Pierre Pistorius
Funding Summary
- CORDIO
- IUCN
- Total Fina Elf
- British Airways Assisting Conservation
- The Royal Society
- The Royal Geographical Society
- Shoals of Capricorn Program
- The Global Environment Facility
- Cambridge Coastal Research Unit
- ICI Image Data
- Borg Warner Automotive
- Dahm International
- Profitability Business Solutions
- Mares
- World of TUI
- The IUCN/CORDIO surveys were funded by the IUCN
Partners
Documents
Additional information regarding this project can be found at www.aldabra.org and www.sif.sc.