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The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles was established in 1992 as the first environmental non-governmental organisation registered in Seychelles and was active up to 2011 when it ceased operating.
NPTS aimed to restore and preserve viable ecosystems, taking a long-term view of ecology. Much of the NPTS work involved monitoring and scientific research prior to intervention. This approach provided new insights into ecological problems and ecosystem management. Projects carried out included
Conservation Silhouette Conservation Project - conservation of the ecosystems, plants and animals of Silhouette Island Seychelles Giant Tortoise Conservation Project - conservation of Seychelles giant tortoises Seychelles Terrapin Conservation Project - conservation of the Critically Endangered Seychelles Pelusios terrapins
Research Indian Ocean Biodiversity Assessment - assessment of the status of biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean
Publication Seychelles Biodiversity monographs Island Biology monographs Phelsuma - scientific journal dedicated to the Western Indian Ocean Birdwatch - natural history of the Seychelles islands
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Seychelles is a small island country located in the Somali sea northeast of Madagascar and about 835 mi (1,344 km) from Mogadishu, Somalia, its nearest foreign mainland city, while Antsiranana is the nearest foreign city overall. Seychelles lies between approximately 4ºS and 10ºS and 46ºE and 54ºE. The nation is an archipelago of 115 tropical islands, some granite and some coral. the majority of which are small and uninhabited. The landmass is only 452 km2 (175 sq mi), but the islands are spread wide over an exclusive economic zone of 1,336,559 km2 (516,048 sq mi). About 90 percent of the population of 90,000 live on Mahé, 9 percent on Praslin and La Digue. Around a third of the land area is the island of Mahé and a further third the atoll of Aldabra.
Tortoises are reptile species of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. They are particularly distinguished from other turtles by being exclusively land-dwelling, while many other turtle species are at least partly aquatic. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backwards into the shell to protect them.
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region.
Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll. It is situated in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 km (700 mi) southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island.
Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as a few living species formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
The Aldabra giant tortoise is endemic to the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. Many of the Indian Ocean species were thought to be driven to extinction by over-exploitation by European sailors, and they were all seemingly extinct by 1840 with the exception of the Aldabran giant tortoise on the island atoll of Aldabra. Although some remnant individuals of A. g. hololissa and A. g. arnoldi may remain in captivity, in recent times, these have all been reduced as subspecies of A. gigantea.
Silhouette Island lies 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles. It is the third largest granitic island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20.1 km2 and has a population of 200, mostly workers on the island on the Somali Sea. The main settlement is La Passe, where Hilton Hotel is located. The name Silhouette was given after Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), the French minister of finances under Louis XV.
Curieuse Island is a small granitic island 1.13 sq mi (2.9 km2) in the Seychelles close to the north coast of the island of Praslin. Curieuse is notable for its bare red earth intermingled with the unique coco de mer palms, one of the cultural icons of the Seychelles, only growing on the two neighboring islands.
Pelusios is a genus of African side-necked turtles. With 17 described species, it is one of the most diverse genera of the turtle order (Testudines).
The Reunion giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
The saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It was endemic to Mauritius. The last records of this tortoise date to the early 18th century.
The domed Mauritius giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise. It was endemic to Mauritius.
Trilepisium gymnandrum is a species of Trilepisium that is endemic to the Seychelles, where it is threatened by habitat loss. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Five mature individuals are known in two sub-populations in the mid to high altitude forests of Silhouette Island. The 18th century populations of the larger Mahé and Praslin islands have presumably been extirpated.
The Wildlife of Seychelles comprises the flora and fauna of the Seychelles islands off the eastern coast of Africa in the western Indian Ocean.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity founded as Educational Expeditions International in 1971 near Boston (USA) by Robert A. Citron and Clarence Truesdale, then superintendent of Vermont public schools. It is one of the largest global underwriters of scientific field research in archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over forty years, Earthwatch has delivered a unique citizen science model to raise funds and recruit individuals, students, teachers and corporate fellows to participate in critical field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change. Earthwatch's work supports hundreds of Ph.D. researchers across dozens of countries, conducting over 100,000 hours of research annually.
Ian Richard Swingland is a British conservationist, convicted in 2017 of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation. He founded DICE at the University of Kent in 1989, recognised as one of the first interdisciplinary research and postgraduate training institutes in the world concentrating on biodiversity, communities and sustainable development. While at DICE he served as director and was elected to the first chair in Conservation Biology in the United Kingdom.
Ecology Project International is a non-profit organization based in Missoula, Montana, dedicated to developing place-based, ecological education partnerships between local experts and youth to address conservation issues. Ecology Project International (EPI) works with students and educators at seven program sites around the world: Belize, Costa Rica, mainland Ecuador, Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexico, and Yellowstone.
Arnold's giant tortoise, also known as the Seychelles saddle-backed giant tortoise, is a tortoise subspecies in the genus Aldabrachelys.
The Seychelles giant tortoise, also known as the Seychelles domed giant tortoise, is a tortoise subspecies in the genus Aldabrachelys.
The Tenerife giant tortoise is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae endemic to the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.