Where is North Island Located?
1,000 miles from the nearest continental landmass, North Island is the epitome of wild (and luxurious) abandonment. The North Island resort in the Seychelles offers only 11 perfectly appointed and utterly private villas.
Each villa is equipped with a bathroom big enough to live in and a kitchen stocked with an impeccable selection of champagne, organic plantain chips, and homemade ice cream. Not to mention a private pool, gazebo, lounge, and lawn leading to the beach, where a come-hither hammock stretches elegantly between palm trees.
But a visit to North Island is also a sober reminder of man’s blundering ability to decimate his environment for the story of North Island is an intriguing tale of rescue, with commercial tourism the unlikely hero.
A Biodiverse Hub
First documented in the 1600s by European traders who went ashore in search of fresh water and the giant tortoises that remain to this day, the island was known as the ‘vegetable garden of the Seychelles’ in the mid-90s, thanks to fertile soils and a freshwater aquifer on the island plateau.
In the 1950s and 60s, it became a commercial copra oil plantation and was thereafter uninhabited for thirty years. During this time a rat population fit for the Pied Piper rain riot, as did the palm trees that today number around 50,000.
Endangered Birds & Indigenous Wildlife
It was after a biodiversity program undertaken by the Seychelles government that deemed the island suitable for rehabilitation, that well-known conservationist Peter Hitchens suggested a Noah’s Ark program to Wilderness Safaris. And so, Wilderness and a group of investors bought the island in 1998 with the commitment to create a commercial venture that would see the reintroduction of endemic and endangered birds.
Classified as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International, the Seychelles granitic islands are home to some of the world’s most endangered birds such as the magpie robin and the Seychelles warbler. Protecting these species is what drove the rehabilitation program and twenty years later the environment has proven to be incredibly forgiving.
A Commitment to Conservation
North Island’s commitment to the continual clearing of alien plant species and replacing them with 120,000 native seedlings grown in the island’s nursery has resulted in the return and successful reintroduction of many indigenous wildlife species including the Seychelles Sunbird, the endangered Seychelles White-Eye, as well as both green and hawksbill turtles. Successful rat removal has allowed ground-nesting seabirds to thrive, while fishing protocols for guests and local fishermen ensure sustainable management of ocean resources.
A team of environmentalists lives on site, monitoring all aspects of the island’s ecology, from tide levels and beach movement to wildlife census and coral reef health – data that contributes to the greater global understanding of migration patterns, sea temperatures, and the impact of climate change. So much so, that in 2017 North Island was awarded the National Geographic World Legacy Award for Conserving The Natural World through its Noah’s Ark initiative.
