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Bird Island is a large natural reserve with pristine white-sand beaches surrounded by a protective reef pulsating with marine life. It is the northernmost island in the Seychelles archipelago, 60 miles from the main island of Mahé. This is one place where animal habitat has priority over human development.

Just as Darwin traveled to remote locations to observe animals in their natural habitats, nature lovers should follow suit and visit this incredible Indian Ocean destination. Bird Island's first recorded discovery goes back three centuries when it was first discovered by a passing ship. It became a private island in 1967 and a conservation project was implemented by the island’s new owners whose concern about the degradation of the island's biological environment and all the organisms living in it along with the vegetation and other photosynthetic organisms led to a number of significant conservation projects.

Conservation

A must-see for conservationists and animal lovers, Bird Island gives visitors the opportunity to observe the island’s feathered residents in their unspoiled natural habitat. The island has no artificial external lighting as this would be a distraction to the island's birds and it would disorient nesting green turtles and hatchlings trying to find their way back to the sea. Bird Island's ecosystem is seriously threatened by shoreline erosion and rising sea levels associated with global warming; the island has already lost over 75 meters of land back in the early 1990s. As a result the Seychelles Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Coastal Zone Management and Bird Island have taken part in a national long term beach monitoring program to protect the Island's aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem and to avoid further environmental degradation.