The Praslin National Park and surrounding areas Important Bird Area lies in the southern part of the island of Praslin in the Seychelles archipelago of the western Indian Ocean.
Praslin is the second largest island (38.5 km2) of the Seychelles, lying 44 km (27 mi) northeast of Mahé. Praslin has a population of around 7,533 people and comprises two administrative districts: Baie Sainte Anne and Grand' Anse. The main settlements are the Baie Ste Anne, Anse Volbert and Grand' Anse.
Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an archipelago country in the Indian Ocean. The capital of the 115-island country, Victoria, lies 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland East Africa. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius to the south; as well as the Maldives and British Indian Ocean Territory to the east. With a population of roughly 94,228, it has the smallest population of any sovereign African country.
An archipelago, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
The 700 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) extends from sea-level to the highest point of the island at an elevation of 367 m. It includes the 330 ha Praslin National Park as well as additional land to the south-east. The hill-slopes of the site are mainly covered by mixed secondary forest containing a high proportion of native plants, notably all six of Seychelles’ endemic palm species. It includes the palm forest of the World Heritage listed Vallée de Mai, as well as many small streams and waterfalls. The south-eastern part of the site is drier, characterised by boulders and caves amongst scrub vegetation. [1]
The hectare is an SI accepted metric system unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides, or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is about 0.405 hectare and one hectare contains about 2.47 acres.
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. It is distinguished from an old-growth forest, which has not recently undergone such disruption, and complex early seral forest, as well as third-growth forests that result from harvest in second growth forests. Secondary forest regrowing after timber harvest differs from forest regrowing after natural disturbances such as fire, insect infestation, or windthrow because the dead trees remain to provide nutrients, structure, and water retention after natural disturbances. However, often after natural disturbance the timber is harvested and removed from the system, in which case the system more closely resembles secondary forest rather than complex early seral forest.
The site was identified as an IBA by BirdLife International because it supports populations of Seychelles kestrels, Seychelles blue pigeons, Seychelles swiftlets, Seychelles bulbuls and Seychelles sunbirds. Reptiles and amphibians found at the site include the Seychelle Islands tree frog, six caecilians, four geckos, two skinks and two snakes, all of which are endemic. Hawksbill turtles nest on the beaches and green turtles feed along the coast. Most of the Praslin population of the Seychelles fruit bat roosts in the IBA. [1]
BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. It is the world's largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.
The Seychelles kestrel is a small bird of prey belonging to the genus Falco in the falcon family, Falconidae. It is endemic to the Seychelles Islands where it is the only breeding bird of prey. It is known in Seychellois Creole as the katiti after its loud, shrill call.
The Seychelles blue pigeon, also known as the Seychelles blue fruit dove, is a medium-sized pigeon which inhabits woodland areas of the granitic Seychelles archipelago.
Michaelmas and Upolu Cays is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,409 km (876 mi) northwest of Brisbane and 33 km (21 mi) east of Cairns. It comprises two small cays on Michaelmas Reef, which forms the north-eastern section of the Arlington reef complex, within the Great Barrier Reef.
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.
Aride Island is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles. A nature reserve, it is leased and managed by the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles.
Cousin Island is a small granitic island of the Seychelles, lying 2 km (1.2 mi) west of Praslin. It is a nature reserve protected under Seychelles law as a Special Reserve. It is managed by Nature Seychelles, a national nonprofit organization and Partner of BirdLife International, by which it has been identified as an Important Bird Area.
The Seychelles black parrot, Praslin parrot or kato nwar is a sombre-coloured, medium-sized parrot endemic to the Seychelles. Historically, it has been treated as a subspecies of the lesser vasa parrot, although it shows morphological, ecological and behavioural differences. Recent phylogenetic research indicates that the Seychelles population has a long history of isolation and may be basal to the rest of the Coracopsis group. It is the national bird of the Seychelles.
Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve is a nature park and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the island of Praslin, Seychelles. It consists of a well-preserved palm forest, flagship species made up of the island endemic coco de mer, as well as five other endemic palms. The coco de mer, a monocot tree in the Arecaceae, has the largest seeds of any plant in the world. Also unique to the park is its wildlife, including birds such as the rare Seychelles black parrot, mammals, crustaceans, snails, and reptiles. There has been a determined effort to eliminate all the introduced exotic species of plants from the area but this has not been successful in eliminating coffee, pineapple, and ornamental palms thus far. This forest, with its peculiar plant and animal species, is a relict from the time when the supercontinent of Gondwana was divided into smaller parts, leaving the Seychelles islands between the present day Madagascar and India.
Cousine Island is a small granitic island 30 ha in the Seychelles 6 km (4 mi) west of Praslin Island. It is a combination luxury resort and since 1992 a nature preserve.
Nature Seychelles is a registered non-governmental association in Seychelles dedicated to environmental conservation. It is the national partner of BirdLife International and was formed as the replacement of Birdlife Seychelles in 1998.
The Granitic Seychelles are the islands in the Seychelles which lie in central position on the Seychelles Bank and are composed of granite rock. They make up the majority of the Inner Islands, which in addition include the coral islands along of the rim of the Seychelles Bank, namely Bird Island and Denis Island.
The Wildlife of Seychelles comprises the flora and fauna of the Seychelles islands off the eastern coast of Africa in the western Indian Ocean.
The four Comoros Islands that lie in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and East Africa are a unique ecoregion, the Comoros forests.
Marie Louise Island is a low-lying coral island in the Amirantes group of the Outer Islands of the Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean, with a distance of 308 km south-west of Victoria, Seychelles.
The Hunter Estuary Wetlands comprise a group of associated wetlands at and near the mouth of the Hunter River in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Some 30 km2 of the wetlands has been recognised as being of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. It was listed on 21 February 1984 as Ramsar site 287. A larger area of the wetlands has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The wetlands are recognised as the most important area in New South Wales for waders, or shorebirds.
Archaius tigris, the Seychelles tiger chameleon, is the only species in the resurrected genus Archaius. Initially placed into Chamaeleo, it was for some time moved to the genus Calumma by some. It is an endangered species of chameleon, found only on the Seychelles islands of Mahé, Silhouette and Praslin.
Desnœufs Island is an island in Seychelles, lying at the southern edge of the Amirantes group, in the Outer Islands, with a distance of 321 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.
The Mahé highlands and surrounding areas Important Bird Area occupy the central and north-western part of the island of Mahé in the Seychelles archipelago of the western Indian Ocean.
The Montagne Glacis Important Bird Area lies on the slopes of the highest mountain on the northern cape of the island of Mahé in the Seychelles archipelago of the western Indian Ocean.
Rivière des Remparts – Rivière Langevin Important Bird Area (IBA) is a 7000 ha tract of land on the island of Réunion, a French territory in the western Indian Ocean.
Tsitongambarika is a lowland forest in southern Madagascar. The area supports many rare species of amphibians, birds, lemurs and reptiles; many of which are endemic. In 2001 the site was designated as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International and in 2015, an area of 600 km² received environmental protection by the government. The reserve is the recipient of monies raised by the 2016 Rutland Birdfair.
Coordinates: 04°20′S55°44′E / 4.333°S 55.733°E
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.
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