PROTECTED AREA IN ROCHE CAIMAN

Roche Caiman Sanctuary

The Roche Caiman Conservation Area is an artificially created wetland (2.9 hectares) resulting from land reclamation works on the east coast of Mahé. Located between the Roche Caiman Housing Estate and the National Sports Complex, it is the only urban wetland conservation area on Seychelles. Plans to make the area a bird sanctuary were made as early as 1987, and management of the area was transferred to a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles (NPTS) in 1992. In 2002, the government handed over the management of the reserve to Nature Seychelles, another indigenous NGO, experienced in habitat and conservation, and the Seychelles Wildlife Clubs.

The wetland consists almost entirely of fresh water. It contains areas of permanent deep water as well as temporary low water habitats. Many species of plants, birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles and other animals depend on the different habitats found in the reserve. It has attracted many wading birds such as greenshank, terek sandpiper, whimbrel, yellow bittern, night heron and mangrove heron, which have become a permanent feature of the reserve.