Aldabra — The Case for Conserving this Coral Atoll

Abstract

Aldabra, one of the few islands left in the world with a distinctive fauna undisturbed by man, is threatened with the installation of an air base and a radio station that would without doubt ruin its scientific value and probably exterminate several rare, and some unique, birds. The author, a member of die Bristol University Seychelles Expedition of 1964–65, spent two months on Aldabra, which lies 630 miles south-west of Seychelles and 230 miles northwest of Madagascar. He describes some of the interesting animals and birds and the unique opportunity for scientific study that the island offers, and points to Assumption Island as a “grim warning” of what human interference can do to such an island.