Aldabra

Aldabra, the world's second-largest coral atoll, is located east of the continent of Africa. It is part of 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 southwest of the capital, Victoria on Mahé Island. Initially named by Arab seafarers for its harsh environment, Aldabra became a French colony dependency in the 18th century, leading to the exploitation of its natural resources, particularly giant tortoises. After passing through British hands, Aldabra faced potential military use in the 1960s, but international protests resulted in its protection. The atoll boasts unique geography, featuring the world's largest raised coral reef and a large shallow lagoon. Aldabra's history involves human impact, including failed agricultural ventures.
Post-World War II, conservation efforts increased, leading to its inclusion in the British Indian Ocean Territory and eventual independence for Seychelles. Following an international protest by scientists known as the 'Aldabra Affair,' the Royal Society of London and later the Seychelles Islands Foundation conducted research, leading to Aldabra's declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. The atoll's flora and fauna, notably the giant tortoises, comprise an 'ecological wonder', with Aldabra serving as a critical breeding ground for various species. Conservation challenges, such as invasive species and plastic pollution, persist, but protective measures, including UNESCO designation, underscore Aldabra's significance as a natural vital scientific research site. Aldabra receives limited tourism to safeguard its delicate ecosystem and is accessible primarily through guided tours.

History

The name Aldabra, originally Al-Hadra or Al-Khadra, was given by Arab seafarers for "the atoll's harsh, sun-baked environment"; this name was included in the Portuguese maps of the 16th century. The islands were already known to the Persians and Arabs, from whom they got their name. They had named the Indian Ocean as Bahr-el zanj. It was visited by Portuguese navigators in 1511. In the middle of the 18th century, the atoll became a dependency of the French colony of Réunion, from where expeditions were made for the capture of the Aldabra giant tortoises.
As there are no surface freshwater sources on Aldabra, the interests of the explorers was only to exploit the species of tortoise, turtle and fish, and not to inhabit the atoll. In 1810, with Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles and other islands, Aldabra passed into the possession of Great Britain. Réunion was later returned to France, and Mauritius gained possession of Aldabra as well as the rest of the Seychelles. The previous inhabitants were emigrants from the Seychelles.
Admiral W. J. L. Wharton of the British Navy landed in Aldabra in 1878 to conduct hydrographic surveys of the islands. In 1888, the first settlement was established after the Concession was granted by the Seychelles authorities. The intention was to exploit and export the natural resources of the islands. The villagers built a chapel, in the middle of the badamier trees, using timber and steel; the chapel was considered an essential addition to the plantation houses and office buildings. As Aldabra had no freshwater resources, large rectangular-shaped water storage structures were built adjoining each building. A two-roomed jail was also built in the village, a remnant of which is extant.
The exploitation of tortoises for commercial purposes at that time is illustrated by the remnants of a crushing mill at Picard Island, which was used to crush bones of tortoises, which were also brought in from other islands in the atoll. Efforts made to grow plantation crops of coconuts, cotton, and sisal failed due to inadequate water sources on the atoll; relics of these plantations are still found on some of the islands. In the late 19th century, goats were introduced as a food source for the villagers living there. Ship rats were inadvertently introduced and recorded before 1870, and house geckos were noted from the 1970s. Sailors landed on the atoll in the 19th century and captured tortoises as food; in 1842, two ships were reported to have taken 1200 of them. By 1900, the tortoises were nearly extinct, and a crew would often have to hunt for three days to find one.
In the early 1800s, concessions given to individuals almost destroyed the forests and tortoise habitats in many islands in Seychelles; on Aldabra Atoll, in view of its remoteness and rugged topography, only small areas of forests were cleared for agricultural operations but the tortoises were intensely captured for meat and trade. However, James Spurs, who had the concession of the atoll, was responsible initially for saving the tortoises on the atoll when he banned killing them in 1891.
Following World War II, exploitation of Aldabra for commercial use came to an end and restrictions were imposed on the number of people who could stay on the islands; this number was fixed at 200 at a time. Introduction of invasive species was banned, faunal species were protected under law, and active research on the ecology and biodiversity of the atoll was undertaken by the Royal Society of London from the mid-1970s.
Aldabra, along with Desroches and Farquhar, was part of the British Indian Ocean Territory from 1965 until Seychelles' independence in 1976. In the 1960s, as a part of their 'Ocean Island Policy', and to support East of Suez commitments, the British government considered establishing an RAF base on the island and invited the United States to help fund the project in return for shared use of the facility and a settlement of 11 million dollars. Simultaneously, the British Broadcasting Corporation became interested in Aldabra as a possible transmitter site, to broadcast the BBC Overseas Service into the African mainland. The BBC mounted a fact-finding expedition to assess its suitability for this purpose. The BBC relied on the RAF for developing the atoll as without this their project would not have been feasible.
After an international protest by scientists, however, the military plans were abandoned and the atoll instead received full protection. The "Environmental lobbyists" under the leadership of Julian Huxley, with the support of MPs Tam Dalyell and Robin Cook, got the British venture torpedoed. In 1966, British Defence Minister Denis Healey had observed: "As I understand it, the island of Aldabra is inhabited - like Her Majesty's Opposition Front bench - by giant turtles, frigate birds and boobies."
Subsequent to the thwarting of plans to establish a military station at Aldabra, the Royal Society of London resumed their scientific study of the flora and fauna of the atoll with Professor David Stoddart as the leader. The Royal Society bought the lease of the atoll in 1970 and their research station became functional from 1970. After completion of their assigned work, the Royal Society left and the Seychelles Islands Foundation, a public trust of Seychelles, assumed management and protection of the atoll in 1979. SIF functions under the patronage of the President of Seychelles and Aldabra was declared a Special Nature Reserve in 1981; it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 19 November 1982. A brass plaque inscribed with the citation "Aldabra, wonder of nature given to humanity by the people of the Republic of Seychelles" was erected on the atoll. This appreciation befits the atoll which is truly one of the greatest ecologically undisturbed raised coral atolls in the world.

Geography

Aldabra atoll is in the most southwesterly part of the Seychelles, and is closer to the coast of Africa than to Mahé. It is northwest of Madagascar and from Moroni on the Comoro Islands. The atoll is the largest raised coral reef in the world with an elevation of ; and the second-largest atoll in the world after Kiritimati Atoll. It lies at and belongs to the Aldabra Group, one of the island groups of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, which includes the island of Assumption and the atolls of Astove and Cosmoledo. Aldabra atoll is long and wide. It has a large shallow lagoon, in area, which is about two-thirds dry during low tide. The lagoon is encircled by fringing coral reef.
Around the rim of the lagoon are the larger islands of the atoll. The total land area of the atoll is. The size including the lagoon is. The outside rim of the atoll has three passages which connect to the lagoon, which is in width where it opens to the sea. The water depth in the lagoon averages about ; however, the passages that open to the sea are up to deep and strongly affected by tidal currents.

List of islands

Aldabra atoll has, besides the four larger islands, some 40 smaller islands and rocks, all inside the lagoon, as well as a few very small islets at the West Channels between Grand Terre Island and Picard Islands, the largest of those being Îlot Magnan.

Îlot Magnan.

	Island	Sobriquet	type	Location	Area	Coastline	Length	Width	Elevation
1	Picard	West	island		928.70	25.80	3.20	3.90	0.00
2	Polymnie		island		193.60	10.40	1.01	3.42	0.00
3	North Niçois	Îlot Niçois Nord	island		2.80	0.94	0.38	0.09	0.00
4	South Niçois	Îlot Niçois Sud	island		0.73	0.35	0.13	0.06	0.00
5	Gros	Gros ÎIot Gionnet	island		4.00	1.08	0.40	0.12	0.00
6	Petite	Petite ÎIot Gionnet	island		0.48	0.29	0.10	0.05	0.00
7	Malabar	Middle	island		2650.50	52.5	2.00	17.70	0.00
8	Verte	Île Verte	island		4.15	1.50	0.43	0.12	0.00
9	Marquoix	Îlot Marquoix	island		1.62	0.88	0.25	0.11	0.00
10	North Coconut		island		52.30	4.40	0.9	0.7	0.00
11	South Coconut		island		58.10	4.26	1.1	0.6	0.00
12	Michael	Île Michel	island		37.00	5.57	1.45	0.44	0.00
13	Petit Mentor	Petit Mentor Endans	island		0.10	0.10	0.03	0.03	0.00
14	Gros	Gros ÎIot Sésame	island		2.35	0.93	0.36	0.07	0.00
15	Petit	Petit ÎIot Sésame	island		0.20	0.20	0.06	0.04	0.00
16	Grand Terre	South	island		11400	106.65	34.10	8.50	0.00
17	Moustiques	Île Moustiques	island		29.30	3.10	0.9	0.4	0.00
18	Euphrates	Île Esprit	island		36.10	2.77	1.05	0.5	0.00
19	Sylvestre West		island		0.40	0.30	0.05	0.1	0.00
20	Sylvestre East		island		0.20	0.20	0.05	0.04	0.00
21	Chalen		island		0.35	0.50	0.18	0.1	0.00
22	Grabeau		island		1.24	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Grande Magnan	Îlot Grande Magnan	island		5.15	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Petite Magnan	Îlot Petite Magnan	island		2.36	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Lanier		island		1.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Dubois		island		2.73	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Yangue		island		1.65	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
22	Emile		island		5.05	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
	Aldabra Atoll		Atoll		15520.00				16

More Islands (unspecified location, but sizes are included under "Other Islands":

Île aux Cendres
Îlot Parc
Champignon des Os
Grand Mentor
Grand ÎIot
Heron Rock
Hide Island
Île aux Aigrettes
Île aux Cèdres
Îles Chalands
Île Fangame
Île Héron
Île Suacco
Îlot Déder
Îlot du Sud
Îlot du Milieu
Îlot du Nord
Îlot Macoa
Îlot Salade
Middle Row Island
Nobby Rock
North Row Island
Petit Mentor
Petits ÎIots
Pink Rock
South Row Island
Table Ronde