Aride Island

Aride Island

Aride Island Location of Aride Island in Seychelles
Geography
Location	Seychelles, Indian Ocean
Coordinates	4°12′48″S 55°40′48″E / 4.21333°S 55.68000°E / -4.21333; 55.68000Coordinates: 4°12′48″S 55°40′48″E / 4.21333°S 55.68000°E / -4.21333; 55.68000
Archipelago	Inner Islands, Seychelles
Adjacent bodies of water	Indian Ocean
Total islands	1
Major islands	Aride
Area	0.71 km2 (0.27 sq mi)
Length	1.65 km (1.025 mi)
Width	0.6 km (0.37 mi)
Coastline	4.23 km (2.628 mi)
Highest elevation	135 m (443 ft)
Highest point	Gros la Tête
Administration
Seychelles
Group	Inner Islands
Sub-Group	Granitic Seychelles
Sub-Group	Praslin Islands
Districts	Grand'Anse Praslin
Largest settlement	La Cour (population 8)
Demographics
Demonym	Creole
Population	8 (2014)
Pop. density	11.2 /km2 (29 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Creole, French, East Africans, Indians.
Additional information
Time zone	SCT (UTC+4)
Official website	www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/
ISO Code = SC-14

Aride Island is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles (Bird Island is the northernmost Seychelles island overall). A nature reserve, it is leased and managed by the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles.

The name ‘Aride’ first appears on nautical charts after French voyages of exploration in 1770 and 1771. The first written account was in 1787 by Jean-Baptiste Malavois, French commandant of Seychelles, who described it as being “…no more than a pile of rocks covered with a few bushes.” Between 1817 and 1829 Aride was possibly an unofficial leper colony. In 1868, the Irishman Perceval Wright, who gave his name to Aride’s unique gardenia and one of its endemic lizards, visited Aride. In 1883, the British artist Marianne North painted a scene on the island, reporting just one large tree, beneath which the island staff sheltered from the sun. Coconut palms were planted over much of Aride and copra production became important economically. Dogs, pigs, cats and chickens were introduced, though fortunately rats never arrived.

The wooden plantation house on Aride, overlooking the small settlement, is one of the last buildings of its type to survive in Seychelles.

For almost a century sooty tern eggs were cropped with up to 220,000 being removed each season. Not surprisingly the number of nesting seabirds declined and all endemic land birds were wiped out. However, in 1967, the island’s owner, Paul Chenard, ceased egg collection and declared the island a reserve. In 1973, Mr. Christopher Cadbury purchased Aride for the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves (now Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts). In 1979 it was declared a Special Reserve under Seychelles law, to include a marine zone of 200m around the island, with penalties including imprisonment for killing or disturbance of its wildlife.

In 2003, management was transferred to Island Conservation Society. In 2006, the freehold was transferred to the UK Registered Charity Island Conservation Society UK and in 2008, the island was leased back to Island Conservation Society of Seychelles.

The island is part of the district of Grand'Anse, located 10 km north of Praslin island and is 68 hectares in area.