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· collected 2026-08-31 · by TOI World Desk
For decades, the small island of Aride in the Seychelles was treated less as a wildlife sanctuary and more as a source of income.
asserted
island → treat → income
Its forests were cleared for cultivation, coconut plantations covered parts of the island and its seabirds became a resource that could be harvested.
uncertain
that → clear → island
Sooty tern eggs, in particular, were collected in huge numbers and shipped to other islands.
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eggs → collect → islands
Then, in 1973, British conservationist Christopher Cadbury stepped in.
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Cadbury → step → 1973
Cadbury, a member of the family behind the Cadbury chocolate company, provided £40,000 to enable the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, now the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, to acquire Aride and protect it as a nature reserve.
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Society → provide → reserve
That sum would be equivalent to almost £1 million today, according to Silhouette, the Air Seychelles magazine.
uncertain
sum → accord → Silhouette
More than five decades later, the 74-hectare island has become one of the most important seabird colonies in the Indian Ocean.
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island → become → Ocean
Around one million breeding seabirds belonging to 10 species are now associated with Aride, while its restored forests provide habitat for endemic birds, reptiles and plants.
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forests → breed → birds
The transformation is striking because Aride was far from untouched when Cadbury helped secure its future.
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Cadbury → help → future
From exploitation to protection
Aride is the northernmost of the granitic Seychelles islands and lies roughly 10 km from Praslin.
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Aride → lie → Praslin
Its landscape was dramatically altered during the period when the island was commercially exploited.
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island → alter → period
Research published in Bird Conservation International records that Aride was once a coconut plantation.
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Aride → publish → International
Vegetation on the hills was also repeatedly cleared to create suitable breeding grounds for Sooty Terns, whose eggs were harvested.
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eggs → clear → Terns
The coconut plantation was eventually removed and native vegetation was gradually restored after the island was purchased in 1973.
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island → remove → 1973
Historical records show that between 1948 and 1967, an estimated 171 to 173 cases of Sooty tern eggs were exported from Aride every year on average.
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cases → show → Aride
In 1954 alone, as many as 312 cases, containing about 225,000 eggs, were harvested.
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cases → contain → eggs
Commercial egg collection finally stopped in 1967.
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collection → stop → 1967
The island had also suffered from the introduction of animals such as cats.
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island → suffer → cats
Its original forest had been cleared and seabird eggs were collected and transported to Praslin.
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eggs → clear → Praslin
Yet Aride had one extraordinary advantage: rats never reached the island.
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rats → have → island
Its lack of streams also made it less attractive to permanent settlement, while difficult landings limited access.
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landings → make → access
Those factors helped preserve a foundation from which the island's ecosystem could eventually recover.
uncertain
ecosystem → help → which
A different kind of investment
Cadbury recognised that potential and invested in protecting an ecosystem.
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Cadbury → recognise → ecosystem
After the acquisition, conservation efforts began to reverse decades of ecological damage.
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efforts → begin → damage
Coconut palms were removed and native trees were replanted.
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trees → remove → ?
The vegetation on the island gradually recovered, creating habitat for species that had disappeared or declined.
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that → recover → species
Aride was subsequently given legal protection as a Special Reserve under Seychelles law.
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Aride → give → law
Sources differ on the exact year of the designation, with conservation records citing 1975, while other accounts record the formal Special Reserve status as 1979.
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accounts → differ → 1979
The management of the island eventually moved into local hands.
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management → move → hands
The Island Conservation Society, a Seychelles-based conservation organisation, took over responsibility for managing Aride, and today its conservation staff are the only permanent inhabitants of the island.
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staff → base → island
An island ruled by birds
Today, Aride supports approximately one million breeding seabirds across 10 species, making it one of the most significant seabird colonies in the Indian Ocean.
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it → rule → Ocean
The island is particularly important because its value is not limited to sheer numbers.
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value → limit → numbers
It supports several species that are endemic to the Seychelles, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.
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they → support → world
Among them is the Seychelles magpie-robin, a bird that once came dangerously close to extinction.
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that → come → extinction
A 2016 study in Bird Conservation International notes that the species had fallen to just 12 individuals on a single island in 1960.
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species → note → 1960
By 2015, intensive conservation programmes had helped increase its population to around 280 birds across five islands.
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programmes → help → islands
Aride is among the islands involved in the species' recovery programme.
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Aride → involve → programme
The island also provides habitat for Seychelles fodies, Seychelles blue pigeons and Seychelles sunbirds, along with reptiles and a remarkable variety of plant life.
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island → provide → life
The Key Biodiversity Areas database records about 100 vascular plant species on Aride, including species of particular conservation importance.
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database → record → importance
Its importance extends beyond land.
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importance → extend → land
…and 15 more, not listed.
