Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, is a world-renowned access point to biodiversity.
The country sank into a primary environmental crisis when the Panamanian-flagged Japanese granelero, wakashio, sank directly into one of Mauritius’ pristine coral barriers in the southeast of the country on July 25, 2020 and began spilling heavy fuel oil last Thursday. . August 6.
The shipment crashed into the center of this fragile and protected ecosystem, and efforts are being made to stop oil from shipping before it breaks. The site of the early accident is known for its crystal clear waters, giant coral reefs, marine parks and small nature reserves of islands.
The islanders were surprised to see the dark flows of heavy oil surrounding a specific coral atoll, the small circular island of Aigrettes Island in the middle of the maximum photographs of the oil spill. Although many of the rare captive species have been transported to places since oil began to leak on August 6, there is a growing fear that, when the initial cleanup operation is completed, the long-term implications may be simply devastating to the country’s biodiversity. region and the world, i.e. exclusive plants and marine life.
It is one of the maximum vital natural reserves of the Indian Ocean. It is an island of 25 hectares 625 meters from the coast and comprises some of the rarest species on the planet, which are not found anywhere else in Mauritius or the world. It was designed as a platform for the release of restored species in a network of spaces connected to the country.
Prior to the Covid-19 epidemic, world leaders were ready to make ambitious commitments to safeguard global biodiversity at a series of foreign summits. The history of The Island of The Egrets would have been the crown jewel of these summits, distinguishing itself as a global conservation achievement and a lesson on how biodiversity can be safeguarded. The nature reserve was the first in 1965 and has been controlled through a local NGO, the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation since 1985, as a safe haven to stabilize and repair endangered species in an endemic environment.
Coral Atoll’s safe haven is considered the safest position to protect these species from the influence of humanity. The occasions of the last few days have proven otherwise.
The Mauritius Wildlife Foundation has 40 conservation systems operating for various threatened species. Here are 15 of the most iconic species and habitats that have been directly affected by the oil spill and that the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and other local environmental teams are struggling to save.
According to the Mauritius National Parks and Conservation Service, the island of the egrets has the most productive preserved canopy of all the coral islands of the Mascarene and comprises the last piece of local ebony-rich forest that was once abundant in much of Mauritius. . It is home to one of the largest and most productive preserved ebony forests in the Mauritius plains.
Mauritius has a varied flora, with more than 670 species of flowering plants of which 315 are endemic, that is, they are only discovered in Mauritius. Approximately two hundred endemic plant species are threatened and about 50 species of less than 10 Americans are known in the wild. Many plant species are limited to small patches of local forest, such as The Island of The Egrets.
The island is a safe haven for many other trees, shrubs and rare and exclusive flowers, such as the ebony tree (Diospyros Egrettarum), the calvary tree (Sideroxylon Boutonianum) that he once thought depended entirely on the Dodo for its survival, the Drago or Candlewood (Dracaena Concinna) and the shrub All were on the brink of extinction on some level and have remained aware for many years.
The pink pigeon of Mauritius has been one of the wonderful conservation successes. This gigantic endemic bird on the brink of extinction in 1991 with only 10 Americans remaining. Following a successful breeding program on the island of the egrets, the bird has been taken to a secondary location in Mauritius in Black River Gorge National Park in recent years, and all populations are largely monitored through the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation. The pink dove is the only mascara pigeon that hasn’t died.
This small bird endemic to Mauritius, but classified as critically endangered after the population decreased particularly between 1975 and 1993. 93 bodies were released on The Island of The Garcetas between 2003 and 2006, and the population slowly stabilized in about one hundred breeding pairs. Its number has increased since then and lately it is estimated that there are 900 on the island. Mauritian Fody depended on local exotic forests to protect it from predators and was slowly released to other outlying islands that did not involve predators.
The olive white eye of Mauritius is one of the rarest birds in Mauritius and is only discovered on the island of Aigrettes. The population has declined dramatically, from 350 couples in 1975 to just 120 couples in 2002. One of the reasons for its rarity is that Mauritius’ olive white eye has evolved around the nectar of several flowers endemic to Mauritius. The advent of other plant species has led to a decrease in flowers and therefore a serious decrease in the number of birds. After a successful breeding program, its population is estimated at around 300, however, it is still classified as critically endangered on the IUCN list.
Of the 18 species of reptiles that were once in Mauritius, thirteen remain, and 7 of them are discovered exclusively in marine islets such as The Island of the Garcetas where they escaped the extinction of invasive species such as rats.
Historically, turtles have been discovered on many islands in the western Indian Ocean. They are one of the largest turtles in the world and were once thought to have become extinct in 1840 due to overexploitation through European sailors. A small population survived in the coral atoll of Aldabra in the Seychelles. 20 were raised in the Isle of The Garcetas reserve to be reintroduced in Mauritius.
The once-large slid of Telfair, a type of lizard, has experienced a population decline due to habitat loss and invasive species brought to Mauritius for more than two hundred years, such as goats, rats and rabbits. The Telfair sloop is similar to two now extinct species, the giant slolids of Mauritius and Reunion. The last remaining populations were discovered on a remote island in Mauritius, Round Island to the north, where only 5,000 Americans were counted in the 1970s. After a successful captive breeding programme in the UK, the spling population was slowly moved to other outlying islands such as Eagle Island.
The critically endangered, critically endangered slid, once abundant in Mauritius, has suffered a loss of 80% of its population since 2010 due to invasive species. The Bojer slid is the only species of its kind and separated from all living species more than 30 million years ago (by comparison, humans separated from their closest relatives less than 7 million years ago). They were bred in the reserves of the Island of Las Garcetas to stabilize the population.
The button slip is compromised and has a specific biological interest. They live in coastal rocky habitats, such as Mauritius’ famous volcanic rocks, and feed on small fish and crustaceans discovered in the rocky basins of the spatter zone. The button slip is endemic to Mauritius and was raised in the island reserve of The Egrets.
The Maurice Ornate Day Gecko is one of the smallest daytime geckos, reaching a duration of 12 cm. They are discovered in trees and trees in the driest spaces of Mauritius. Geckos are small lizards with unique features. They can’t blink, but they lick their eyes to keep them blank and wet.
They feed on insects and like to lick soft, sweet fruits, pollen and nectar. Its population is small and unknown on the few outlying islands where they are present, such as the island of Las Garcetas.
In 2014, five ornate Mauritius geckos were noticed when they were sent to the area for an experiment to perceive the effects of the geckos replica on microgravity. Although the two-month project designed to bring the geckos back to Earth, the Russian Space Agency lost communication with the satellite at the start of its project and the fate of the Mauritius-area geckos remains unknown.
Night species of geckos have developed a vision so that their view of colors in soft tones is 350 times more delicate than the vision of human colors.
The small dark, rare and endemic night gecko was protected on Egret Island for the population of the species on the outlying islands.
Geckos have several properties. Their tails are specially designed to allow them to temporarily detach if captured through a predator, but can grow back. The feet of the geckos are also specially developed with special microscopic hairs, called bristles, which give the geckos their sticky capacity.
This exclusive species of gecko can grow up to about 30 centimeters. It was discovered only in the outlying islands of Mauritius, such as The Island of Garcetas, and was raised in captivity until 1999. Its population has since increased to just over 2000. Gonther’s geckos slowly re-entered the outlying islands and remained on the island. Of Las Garcetas. When a gecko falls, it can rotate its tail at right angles to allow it to land standing, in a waterfall that only takes a hundred milliseconds.
In the 1970s, the alarming loss of coastal wetlands forced governments around the world to unite to signal a foreign intergovernmental treaty for their protection, called the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where it was noted in 1971 Mauritius ratified the treaty in 2001 and under this foreign law , the United Nations Scientific Agency, UNESCO identifies sites of foreign importance.
The site of the Wakashio accident is home to two UNESCO Ramsar wetland protection sites. This reflects the uniqueness and biological importance of this region. The first is the Pointe d’Esny wetland which is characterized by its mangrove forest containing many rare species of mangrove plants. These provide habitats for rare and endemic butterflies in the region.
The Ramsar site for the protection of UNESCO wetlands is Blue Bay Marine Park. It is a coral diversity of 38 species of corals in 28 genera and 15 families that are home to more than 233 species of fish, 201 species of shellfish, as well as the endangered green turtle, which lays its eggs on the soft sand of the bay. It is also home to the largest cerebral coral in the Indian Ocean, estimated at about 1000 years and 7 meters wide. Brain corals are named for their round shape and striated surface that resembles a brain. They tend to feed at night, where they extend their tentacles to catch food.
The endangered green tortoise is endangered. There are several turtle breeding habitats on large isolated sandy beaches. The turtle, whose feeding grounds are located in Blue Bay Marine Park and along the east coast of Mauritius, uses pristine sandy beaches to bury its eggs during the nesting season. The long-term consequences on vulnerable turtle populations, especially eggs and newborns, through the finely venomous remnants of heavy oil interspersed with sand are not yet known.
In addition to the extent of the coral reefs that border the island and are a barrier against erosion, Mauritius’ southeast coast is known for its herds of dolphins, sharks, rays and seasonal whale migration.
Its transparent and crystal clear waters come from both the Indian Ocean and the Antarctic currents to the south of the island.
With such threats from climate change, and now primary incidents of commercial pollution, a primary disruption is needed in the way biodiversity conservation is addressed.
In addition to a smarter designation of connected areas, more effective follow-up using newer technologies, and greater investments to perceive the biological importance of specific habitats and species, advances in medical technologies and artificial biology may be offering hope to species on the brink. collapse. These approaches are being explored to repair rhino populations in Africa.
Many of these unique species can also give hope for new tissues and medications, adding possible remedies for Covid-19. By investing in science, generation and the long-term workforce to perceive the importance and price of this exclusive biology, it would possibly be imaginable to position biogeneration and bioeconomy at the center of sustainable economic expansion and rebuild better. In fact, this is what several Silicon Valley corporations in California have explored as a component of the post-Covid uptick.
If done right, it can turn countries into biodiversity and economically deficient like the small island states of Mauritius, the new Silicon Valley for the biotechnological economy.
With the world at the breaking point of a sixth mass extinction and facing the loss of coral reefs in the world under our existing weather trajectory, the time has come to try radically new approaches, before wasting those species forever.
I am a progressive economist aimed at innovation, sustainability and moral economic growth. Lately I’m working with leading generation corporations in Silicon Valley in
I am a progressive economist oriented to innovation, sustainability and moral economic expansion. Lately I’m working with Silicon Valley’s major generation corporations on sustainable expansion opportunities, mainly for low-income countries. I chair the LSE Ocean Financing Initiative, am a member of the WEF Global Network of Experts and a member of the Council of China of the CCICED. My e-book on Sustainability in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Soul of the Sea in the Age of the Algorithm, focuses on a revival of the oceans and climate and builds on my experience as an economics and innovation advisor to Fortune 500’s CEO and global governments. I have a degree in progression economics from harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the University of Cambridge.