Seychelles Photograph by Forestry Sector Technical Coordination Unit of the Southern Africa Development Community   Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   100 square miles (300 square kilometers) -- about the size of Washington DC Critical/Endangered

· Islands of Life
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Islands of Life

The Granitic Seychelles Forests are home to an amazing array of plants and animals. Palm and pandan trees, tree-ferns, mosses, jellyfish trees, chameleons, and pitcher plants are just some of the treasures you will find here. Early explorers to the Vallee de Mai on Praslin Island, which provides the best example of intact native forest in the Seychelles, found the area to be so beautiful that they believed they had found the Garden of Eden. They also found a giant species of land tortoise, which was hunted for food in such large numbers that it was soon driven to extinction.

Special Features

The Seychelles Islands were formed millions of years ago from bits of Gondwanaland that were cast adrift when the Indian continent drifted north toward Asia. Over time, life on these small islands has evolved into a unique grouping of plants and animals, many of which are endemic. The Seychelles are made up of 115 islands that can be divided into two types: granitic islands and low limestone islands. The 42 granitic islands that make up this ecoregion are the peaks on a large submarine plateau, that become islands where these peaks break the surface of the Indian Ocean. Mahe, the largest and tallest island in the Seychelles, is typical of the granitic islands. A mountain ridge runs the length of the island, with the lower regions developed for residential and agricultural purposes and the upper plateau still largely forested. All the islands experience a humid tropical climate with heavy monsoon rains from November to February. In the cooler months the trade winds blow steadily from the southeast. The abundant rainfall and warm temperatures, along with soil enriched by guano, have allowed lush palm forests to develop on the islands.

	One of the smallest amphibians, the tiny Seychelles frog, deposits its eggs in the moist earth until the developed tadpoles hatch when they then climb on their father’s backs. The male will then carry them on his back to water where they will complete their metamorphosis.

Wild Side

The lush, green forests of the Seychelles Granitic Islands are dripping with tree-ferns, palms, orchids, and pitcher plants. The coco-de-mer palm grows up to 100 feet (30 m) tall, with leaves that may measure 20 feet (6 m) long and 13 feet (4 m) wide. These trees produce the largest nuts in the world, with some weighing more than 44 pounds (20 kg)—the weight of a small child. On three scattered hilltops of one island grow one of the rarest plant species in the world, the jellyfish tree. In addition to plants, the Seychelles are inhabited by a diversity of reptiles and amphibians, including several native terrapin species, seven species of legless amphibians called caecilians, four native frogs, three native snakes, an endemic chameleon, and several species of geckos and skinks. Half of the native land birds here are endemic, including the Seychelles magpie-robin, Seychelles paradise flycatcher, and Seychelles scops-owl.

Cause for Concern

The Seychelles government has set aside a number of national parks and reserves to protect the natural heritage of the islands. Together, these protected areas and reserves do a good job of saving critically endangered species as well as the habitats they rely upon, particularly in the native forests in the higher reaches of the granitic islands. However, most of the lowland forests of the Seychelles Granitic Islands have been disturbed or destroyed. Coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon plantations occupy most of the coastal plateaus. Human disturbance of native habitats is still a problem, and human-facilitated introduction of exotic species is a continuing threat. Exotic species now comprise more than half of the total plant species of the Seychelles. Introduced goats, pigs, and cattle inhibit regeneration of native forest; and introduced cats and dogs prey upon native species, particularly seabirds, lizards, caecilians, and invertebrates. Aside from clearing of land and introduced species, the main conservation concern in the Seychelles is the small size of many plant and animal populations. Although many native species have probably always had small populations, the majority of them were spread over several islands. Following human settlement, one species after another has been reduced to one or two relict populations with very small ranges.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.