Cousine Island

Cousine and Cousin (right), seen from Praslin

Cousine Island is a small granitic island (25 ha) in the Seychelles 6 km west of Praslin Island. It is a combination luxury resort and since 1992 a nature preserve.

There are four beachfront French Colonial style villas (maximum number of guests allowed is 10) on the island with a staff of 16 employees.

In 1992 the island was purchased and a conservation program introduced to protect nesting sea turtles and maintain the existing populations of endemic land birds including the Seychelles Magpie Robin, the Seychelles Warbler and the Seychelles Fody. Cousine Island is also a breeding ground for sea birds and has a population of transplanted Aldabra Giant Tortoises. The island has undergone an extensive vegetation rehabilitation program which involves planting of indigenous flora and the removal of alien plant species. Since 1995 over 2000 native trees have been planted.

Indo-Pacific hawksbill turtles are known to nest on this island.^[1]

References

1. ^ Hitchins, P. M.; O. Bourquin and S. Hitchins (2004-04-27). "Nesting success of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) on Cousine Island, Seychelles" (^{[dead link]} – ^{Scholar search}). Journal of Zoology (Cambridge University Press, The Zoological Society of London) 264 (2): 383–389. doi:10.1017/S0952836904005904. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=259629. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 

External links

• Cousine Island Nature Conservation - Giant Turtle Conservation
• Seychelles Magpie Robin Recovery Program
• An article in Geographical magazine about the conservation work on Cousine

Coordinates: 4°21′S 55°38′E / 4.35°S 55.633°E / -4.35; 55.633