ISLAND CONSERVATION SOCIETY-Mooring and demarcation buoys to be placed around Aride |19 April 2010

Of the 1.25 million seabirds that breed on the island, inshore feeding birds such as fairy terns and bridled terns frequently use the marine reserve foraging for food. The coral reef supports over 450 species of fish. Hawksbill and some green turtles also use the coral reef for foraging and protection from predators. Marine mammals such as bottled-nosed dolphins often frequent the inner shores and humpback whales can be sighted offshore on occasion from August through to December each year.

Although the mass coral bleaching event in 1997-98 was severe, ongoing coral reef monitoring around the island suggests there is good potential for coral reef recovery. Coral cover at Aride decreased from approximately 26 percent in 1997 to 2 percent in late 1998. However, it bounced back slightly even after three other minor bleaching events recorded in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The mean live hard coral cover increased to 7 percent in late 2007.

Despite being around for a much shorter time span than most other animals that use this resource, humans have also used coral reefs for recreation, food and other products for thousands of years. Around 1,500 tourists visit Aride annually, mostly to see the islands’ birds during the northwest monsoon, and to do some snorkelling.  All visiting boats have been using the three mooring buoys installed in 2004. Vessels that are too large to use the moorings normally anchor beyond the reef.  Visitors number have increased in recent times, partly due to the pirate issue preventing them from going further afield. This has been positive for Aride Island but unfortunately Aride reefs are paying the price.  Due to the limited number of mooring buoys, boats sometimes need to anchor on the reef. This has led to a marked increase in anchor damage and is delaying hard coral recovery.

In recent years, many MPAs have been created worldwide, but unfortunately many of these are “paper parks” with limited effective management. Illegal fishing inside MPAs has been reported even in well-managed reserves such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.  Even in Seychelles, most of the fifteen MPAs are regularly fished, with boat densities ranging from 3.5 to twenty boats per square kilometre. Aride is of no exception, despite continued efforts by Aride Island staff to prevent poachers. Sea cucumber harvesting in the past has reduced the numbers drastically around Aride Island reefs and octopus fishing is still an ongoing problem for the island’s management.

However, MPAs are known also to play a key role in promoting the recovery of impacted reefs if managed properly. And since Aride supports a thriving acroporid population, showing good recovery potential and has limited parking space for visiting boats, it is only natural that a solution is found. In response to this, the Island Conservation Society is planning on installing a total of three new mooring buoys and six demarcation buoys around Aride in the coming months with funding from RECOMAP.

ReCoMaP is a regional programme for the sustainable management of the coastal zones of the countries of the Indian Ocean.
 This will allow more boats to moor safely around Aride, while reducing the impact of anchor damage on the corals. The installation of demarcation buoys will mark the boundary of the marine reserve around Aride and will allow the rangers from Aride determine with better accuracy whether boats fishing in the vicinity of Aride are inside or outside the marine reserve.

The Island Conservation Society of Seychelles promotes the conservation and restoration of island ecosystems.

by Pierre-André Adam