Aldabra Atoll has received its 4th international designation with the announcement that the site will be included in the newly launched IOSEA Network of Sites of Importance for Marine Turtles.

Aldabra will be part of the Indian Ocean-South-East Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Site Network which is expected to enhance both the local and global recognition of the importance of these selected sites, while also offering long- term conservation benefits that are most easily achieved through such a coordinated network.

This IOSEA network will optimise the use of limited resources and will help to diffuse adverse socio-economic impacts over a wider geographic scale, while promoting ecological connectivity as well as resistance and resilience to environmental stress.  

Aldabra was accepted into the network as it met the stringent Evaluation Criteria, as assessed by the IOSEA advisory committee and as endorsed by the collective IOSEA membership, as a critical site needed to secure the future of marine turtle species. 
 
The IOSEA memorandum of understanding is an agreement concluded under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) secretariat and is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).

Aldabra has the second largest population of nesting Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Western Indian Ocean. Lush sea grass beds, diverse coral reefs and undisturbed beaches provide an ideal habitat for these graceful reptiles.  Green Turtles are listed by IUCN as globally endangered due to severe declines in their numbers as a result of hunting, fishing by-catch and coastal habitat modification. Prior to 1968, when Aldabra was established as a nature reserve, Green Turtles there also suffered intense exploitation for their meat.  

Following several decades of protection under SIF (Seychelles Islands Foundation) however, and the addition of the Turtle Protection Act in 1994 to the Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act (1961), this turtle population has recovered.  Between 1968 and 2008 there was a 500–800% increase in the number of nesting Green Turtles on Aldabra, with around 3100–5225 female turtles nesting annually in 2008, which has continued to increase since.  This has been an incredible conservation success and demonstrates the importance of protection for these ocean wanderers.  

Aldabra Atoll currently has four international designations. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site, a Ramsar wetland of international importance, an Important Bird Area under Birdlife International and now an IOSEA Marine Turtle Network Site.  

Further details of the IOSEA Marine Turtle Site Network are available through the dedicated page on the IOSEA website: http://ioseaturtles.org/sitenetwork.php.  

Contributed by SIF

Forrás: www.nation.sc