Known as a biodiversity indicator species, local experts say it’s too early to stop protecting these important birds

National surveys carried out since 2021 by the Seychelles Ministry responsible for the Environment and the NGO Island Conservation Society (ICS) have documented sharp declines in Sooty Tern populations throughout the country. At monitored breeding colonies, numbers have dropped by an average of about 70 percent, while some sites have recorded declines exceeding 90 percent. Overall, the national population is now estimated to be roughly one third of its size 25 years ago. On several islands, including Aride Island, African Banks and Etoile, colonies are now nearing local extinction.

In response to these findings, ICS recommended introducing a ten-year suspension of egg harvesting. A two-year moratorium was first implemented in 2021, followed by a second two-year extension in May 2024.

“It is still too soon to assess the impact of these measures,” Adrian Skerrett, Chair of ICS tells Green Prophet. “Sooty Terns generally do not begin breeding until they are five to seven years old. Any recovery linked to reduced harvesting pressure will only become visible when birds hatched during the moratorium survive to adulthood and return to breed.”

For that reason, the 2025 national census report produced by ICS recommended extending the ban to allow birds protected as eggs and chicks to mature and join the breeding population.

“Without continued protection,” Skerrett explained, “it will be impossible to determine whether reducing harvesting pressure can stabilise or help rebuild national populations.”

Seychelles has long highlighted its environmental credentials, which made the government’s recent decision particularly unexpected. Despite the growing body of scientific evidence documenting population declines, the Cabinet approved the resumption of egg harvesting in 2026.

“This decision is deeply concerning,” said Skerrett. “The survey data collected jointly by ICS and the Ministry responsible for the Environment provide clear scientific evidence of steep declines in Sooty Tern numbers. Restarting egg harvesting at this point disregards that evidence and represents a troubling step backwards.”

Skerrett emphasised that Sooty Terns are important indicators of ocean health.

“These birds provide valuable signals about the state of the marine environment,” he said. “Their breeding success reflects ocean productivity and the availability of fish. When colonies begin to fail, it often points to wider environmental pressures.”

He added that the species plays an important ecological role beyond its intrinsic conservation value.

“Sooty Terns are far more than just another seabird. They serve as a key indicator of marine ecosystem health. Their breeding success is closely linked to ocean productivity and prey availability, both of which are increasingly affected by commercial fishing, climate change, habitat degradation and declining fish stocks. At several colonies we are already observing worrying signs, including chick starvation and widespread breeding failure, suggesting that food shortages are beginning to affect the population.”

Although Sooty Terns sometimes lay replacement eggs after their original eggs are harvested, research shows that these replacement clutches rarely result in fledged chicks.

“The fact that Sooty Terns can lay again after eggs are removed has often been used to justify harvesting,” Skerrett noted. “But scientific studies show that these replacement eggs rarely produce chicks that survive to fledge. As a result, the apparent resilience of the species can be misleading.”

According to ICS, the magnitude of the population decline means that a prolonged period without harvesting is essential if the species is to recover.

“Our recommendation was clear,” said Skerrett. “Given the scale of the decline, the species requires an extended period free from harvesting if populations are to rebuild. Restarting egg collection now represents a significant reversal and is difficult to reconcile with the available scientific evidence.”

In many parts of the world, wildlife exploitation is driven by the need for food or income. Historically, that was also true in Seychelles. Today, however, the country’s economic circumstances are very different. In 2015, Seychelles became the only sub-Saharan African country classified by the World Bank as a high-income nation.

“Egg harvesting was once closely tied to subsistence and food security,” Skerrett said. “Today it is far less a necessity and increasingly a matter of choice. That makes it even more important that decisions are guided by science and long-term conservation priorities.”

The life history of Sooty Terns also means that population recovery takes time. Birds typically do not begin breeding until around six years of age, and younger adults often require several attempts before successfully raising chicks.

“That slow life cycle means population recovery depends on long-term stability and protection,” Skerrett explained. “A sustained ban would allow colonies time to rebuild, while also improving our understanding of national population trends and reducing the risk that illegally harvested eggs enter the market.”

The moratorium introduced in 2021, together with the National Sooty Tern Census Programme led by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Energy and Natural Resources in partnership with ICS and the Islands Development Company, represented an important step in improving knowledge of the species’ status. Although some colonies have shown modest short-term increases, these gains remain small when compared with the significant long-term declines recorded at most sites.

At the same time, conservationists warn that stronger enforcement is urgently needed. Despite the country’s strong conservation laws, illegal egg harvesting continues at several protected sites, including Aride, Île aux Récifs and Bancs Africains. Monitoring of legal quotas has also been limited, and enforcement actions remain rare.

Related: Song bird poaching in Cyprus

“Legislation is only effective when it is properly enforced,” Skerrett said. “Without consistent monitoring and enforcement, regulations cannot deliver the conservation outcomes they were designed to achieve.”

A scientific study published in 2024 further strengthened the case for continued protection. The research concluded that egg harvesting has already contributed significantly to the decline of Sooty Tern populations and warned that continued harvesting could lead to further, and potentially severe, population reductions. The study also found that even relatively low harvesting levels, around 10 percent of the population, are unlikely to halt the ongoing decline.

“This research clearly shows that recent harvesting levels are not sustainable,” Skerrett said. “The modelling indicates that only long-term scenarios without harvesting offer a realistic chance for the population to recover.”

Given the evidence currently available, Skerrett said there is no scientific basis for restarting egg harvesting at this time.

“Extending the ban would represent a cautious and responsible approach, allowing seabird populations time to recover while research continues into the broader environmental pressures affecting them across the region,” he said. “At the same time, when clear scientific evidence indicates a serious conservation concern, it is important that policy decisions reflect that evidence. Failing to do so risks undermining the credibility of the country’s stated commitment to conservation.”

The post Seychelles resumes sooty tern egg collection despite population crash appeared first on Green Prophet.

The damage appeared on Google Earth, and then was somehow scrubbed: but we have obtained a before and after photo of Qatari development on Assomption Island in the Seychelles. The same images appear on the landsat open source data supplied by EU’s Copernicus. Why this matters? Assomption Island, one of Seychelles’ Outer Islands lying just 25 miles from Aldabra Atoll, is being rapidly transformed by large-scale construction despite global concern over its ecological importance.

Once lightly inhabited and largely recovering after decades of limited human activity, Assomption is now the site of major earthworks, dredging, and runway expansion for an ultra-luxury development on the beach –– that conservationists say could permanently alter the island’s environment and threaten nearby Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “outpost of evolution.”

Photographs and satellite images taken between approximately 2023 and June 2025 show widespread clearing of dunes and vegetation, the extension of the airstrip across the center of the island, and the preparation of foundations for as many as 40 villas. The development, backed by Qatari investors through a company Assets Group, aims to create a luxury resort enclave marketed to the ultra-wealthy. Only the ultra wealthy can hope to dive around the atoll. Getting there means a small plane into Assomption and then a charter boat to the island. Guests need to sleep on the boat. Read this personal account of being a dive master at Aldabra Atoll.

Conservation groups, including Friends of Aldabra and Seychelles at Heart, say the project has proceeded without proper environmental oversight and in violation of Seychelles’ own constitutional protections guaranteeing citizens the right to a healthy environment.

Environmentalists have warned that Assomption’s beaches are vital nesting sites for green and hawksbill turtles and that dredging and construction will destroy their breeding grounds. One widely circulated photograph released by Friends of Aldabra shows a dead turtle crushed in the sand by machinery.

Researchers who have studied the island for decades describe it as a key ecological buffer for Aldabra, helping to protect the atoll from pollution, invasive species, and light disturbance. If Assomption’s natural systems collapse, they warn, Aldabra could be next.

In September, two Seychellois citizens, Victoria Duthil and Lucie Harter, filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court of Seychelles to halt the project, arguing that it undermines the country’s environmental laws and its international obligations under UNESCO conventions. The petition targets the government, which granted the development lease and continues to issue work permits despite the legal challenge. The lawsuit has become a rallying point for citizens alarmed by the scale of change occurring on the remote island and by the lack of transparency surrounding the project. This issue will probably determine the next election in the Seychelles.

An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the resort identified major long-term risks to turtle nesting, dune stability, and coastal habitats, yet many of its recommendations appear to have been ignored. Conservationists say the new lighting and air traffic alone will devastate nocturnal wildlife. Beach dredging, they add, has already altered currents and sediment flows, increasing the risk of erosion and devastating turtle nesting sites. Pollution and runoff from the site in water and by air are expected to travel toward Aldabra, which hosts 100,000 giant tortoises and some of the most diverse coral ecosystems in the world. Every visitor to that island must have their clothing and shoes checked for the tiniest of seeds.

Developers have advertised the Assomption project as a sustainable tourism venture that will bring jobs and foreign revenue to Seychelles. They have hired a British PR firm called the PC Agency headed by Paul Charles and a Swedish “environmentalist” photographer Jesper Anhede to scout locations and to court buyers and “eco” builders. We reached out to Charles and Jesper to which there has been receipt of our inquiries, but no comments made. Jesper blocked us on Instagram.

Environmental groups like Friends of Aldabra are worried because they counter that the resort’s marketing materials promise exclusive access to Aldabra, a strict conservation zone closed to mass tourism. They warn that the development of Assomption creates an open channel—physical and economic—between Aldabra and the luxury market, undermining decades of conservation policy designed to keep the atoll isolated from human disturbance.

The controversy comes at a politically fragile moment. National elections remain undecided, with about 10 candidates facing pressure to define their positions on the Outer Islands. We spoke with one candidate, Marco Francis, candidate of the Seychelles United Movement, who has pledged to strengthen protections for Seychelles’ marine reserves and eradicate corruption. The outcome of the election may determine whether construction on Assomption is paused, reversed, or expanded.

Until recently, Assomption had been protected under national environmental frameworks, serving as a controlled buffer to Aldabra’s strictly protected ecosystem. Conservationists say that status has now been effectively removed. What began as a quiet island has become a construction hub for a luxury enclave which will give access to Aldabra and other isolated islands that most Seychellois, a nation of 120,000, will never see.

Environmental observers argue that the issue is larger than Assomption alone. It symbolizes the growing global tension between development and conservation in fragile island states.  If this project continues unchecked, the “outpost of evolution” may be destroyed.

Aldabra faces another global problem — plastic pollution washing up from across the Indian Ocean. Cleaning it up would cost millions. Even a lost flip-flop from Zanzibar can end up on its beaches.

Get educated about protecting Aldabra Atoll:

• Seychelles activists sue government for Qatari development on turtle nesting sites
• Seychelles’ Assomption Island Sold to Qatar: An Alleged $50M Deal Sparks Uproar
• Seychelles’ UNESCO island under threat from luxury development and Qatari-linked terror funds
• Seychelles and the battle with royalty, rats, and the last truly wild places left on Earth
• Q&A: Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah on Assomption Island, Qatar, and the state of conservation in the Seychelles
• “They Knew They Shouldn’t Be There”: Journalist Kevin Gepford on rising pressures at Aldabra
• They Call Her Madam Torti. She Might Be the Only One Who Can Save Seychelles Turtles
• Yaniv Levy’s lifelong quest to protect sea turtles in a time of war and greed
• Light pollution on animals
• Flip flops take over shores of the Seychelles

The post Images of Assomption Island development show extensive beach development appeared first on Green Prophet.

We’ve covered the story of rats and royalty at the Seychelles Islands extensively and the next step in stopping the construction of Qatari villas on turtle nesting sites is led by two Seychellois citizens — Victoria Duthil (from Friends of Aldabra) and Lucie Harter (from Seychelles at Heart). Can the right thing trump money?

The duo have filed a petition in the Constitutional Court of Seychelles seeking an injunction to stop construction of a luxury Qatari hotel development on Assomption Island, 20 miles from the Aldabra Atoll UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known as the “outpost of evolution” but biologists are worried it will be a playground for rich Middle Easterners.

The Seychelles’ UNESCO island is under threat from luxury development with not so clean Qatari funds. And we have spoken with a handful of environmentalists, scientists and biologists on how wrong this Qatari project is. You can read the whole background on the story below in a series of articles we have posted.

As we speak, critical turtle nesting sites are being bulldozed, the island being sold by the government in a 70-year lease and with a blind eye.

The petition filed last month invokes Article 38 of the Seychelles Constitution (the right to a clean, healthy and ecologically balanced environment).

Assomption Island is next to the Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site globally recognised as one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on Earth. After decades of human degradation, Assomption was showing signs of ecological recovery, serving as a key habitat for sea turtles, butterflies, and other insects.

The Qatari-led construction project poses a serious risk of irreversible harm to these fragile ecosystems, threatening to undo decades of conservation work in the Outer Islands. 

The claimants say that “legal action was taken to safeguard the constitutional right of every Seychellois to live in and enjoy a clean, healthy, and ecologically balanced environment, as stated in Article 38 of the Constitution of Seychelles.”

From the outset, “we have reported that this development has proceeded without transparency or legal safeguards. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was conducted by an NGO with financial and governance ties to the project contractor, raising serious concerns about conflict of interest. 

“Construction began before any environmental accountability had been assigned: no environmental officer was present, no monitoring was in place, and the biosecurity protocol ignored—despite this being critical to prevent invasive species from devastating island ecosystems.”

Green Prophet interviewed turtle expert Jeanne Mortimer earning her the title of Madame Torti in the Seychelles. She was not consulted about how to safeguard the turtles but knows how it can be done.

“There is a lot going on behind the scenes related to Assomption. Actually I am somewhat optimistic. We will see…” Jeanne Mortimer told Green Prophet today. Our video with her has gone viral.

According to Mongabay and various NGO and media reports, the PR agency named The PC Agency is being used by Assets Group to promote the development and its narrative (for example, offering tourism packages). Also, Mongabay says that the London-based PR company: “Through a website run by its PR firm, the PC Agency, Assets Group has made it clear it is offering tourists an Aldabra islands package not limited to Assomption Island.”

“In May 2025, the Planning Authority issued a Stop Notice for these violations, but it appears to have been immediately waived or disregarded. Since then, evidence has surfaced of unauthorised dredging, light pollution visible from Aldabra that disrupts the behaviour of both terrestrial and marine species, and a photo of a gravely injured giant tortoise.”

It is common for Middle East developers to hire Londoners and Europeans to greenwash development projects in the Middle East. It is happening currently in Saudi Arabia with its Neom mega project.

Iranian architect Ronak Roshan tells Green Prophet greenwashing is happening by respected international organizations, including the greenwashing by the Aga Khan Foundation in promoting projects on islands that are definitely not good for turtles, nature or the environment. She writes her piece on Green Prophet from her home in Iran. And what they are doing on Hormuz Island.

Green Prophet has not received any comment from Assets Group. Or Aga Khan.

Follow Friends of Aladbra if you want to help and get involved.

Further reading on Green Prophet

• Seychelles and the battle with royalty, rats, and the last truly wild places left on Earth
• Seychelles’ Assomption Island Sold to Qatar: an alleged $50M deal
• Q&A: Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah on Assomption Island and Qatar-backed development
• “They Knew They Shouldn’t Be There”: journalist Kevin Gepford on Aldabra
• They Call Her Madam Torti: Jeanne Mortimer and Seychelles sea turtles
• Yaniv Levy’s lifelong quest to protect sea turtles — and fears for Aldabra
• When conservation oversight isn’t independent: structural conflicts highlighted

The post Seychelles activists sue government for Qatari development on turtle nesting sites appeared first on Green Prophet.

Assomption Island is the back door to one of the last unspoiled corners of Seychelles, the Aldabra Atoll. The Seychelles is a nation of people that control 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. With just over 100,000 people and a heroin crisis afflicting nearly 10% of its population, this small country faces vast and complex challenges. But perhaps none are more pressing—or more invisible to the wider world—than the fate of its sea turtles.

At the center of this story is Dr. Jeanne A Mortimer, an American-Seychellois biologist who has been studying sea turtles since 1973 and working in Seychelles since 1981. Known affectionately as “Madam Torti” among locals, Jeanne is not an activist. She’s not leading protests or lobbying parliament. She is, as always, knee-deep in research—methodically documenting, measuring, walking the beaches at dawn, and then later at night when the turtles nest, and publishing what she finds.

And what she finds is urgent.

Assomption Beach Too Valuable to Lose

Assomption lies just 20 miles from the Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site world-renowned for its giant tortoises, sea turtles, and pristine ecosystem. But while Aldabra has enjoyed global protection since 1968, Assomption, once over-mined for guano, remains largely overlooked. Development on Assomption will directly threaten Aldabra Atoll, considered to be an outpost of evolution.

According to Mortimer, Assomption once had the largest population of nesting green turtles in all of Seychelles. The island’s seven kilometers of mostly uninterrupted beach and deep offshore approach make it ideal for both turtle nesting and tourism. “It’s a perfect green turtle beach,” she explains, “better than Aldabra’s in many ways.”

That perfection now puts it at risk. Plans have emerged by a Qatari-based company Assets Group—cloaked in secrecy—for a luxury development of up to 37 private villas along the beach. Some like Syechelles presidential candidate Marco Francis, says the government has been bought off for $50 million. Assets Group agreed to an interview with Green Prophet but it’s been a month and they have not responded to our questions over allegations of terror financing and lack of environmental oversight.

Journalists have been there recently on Assomption, but they were not allowed to leave the tarmac or take photos. Building was clearly visible and construction crews are digging away, says a source to Green Prophet firsthand.

The scale and style of the project, suggest permanent disruption to this fragile ecosystem. No formal environmental survey has been conducted. No baseline turtle data has been published. And Mortimer, arguably the foremost authority on turtles in the region, has not been consulted.

Mortimer’s approach is neither alarmist nor oppositional. Her power lies in knowledge. After receiving her PhD under legendary sea turtle biologist Archie Carr at the University of Florida, she brought her expertise to Seychelles at the request of WWF and the local government. Her mandate: to study all turtle activity across the archipelago’s 155 islands.

See our talk with Jeanne Mortimer:

To reach remote islands like Cosmoledo, she traveled aboard supply ships like the Cinq Juin, slept on the floor of yacht galleys during high monsoons, getting soaked with water, and sometimes posed as a cook just to gain passage. Guests aboard the cabin caught on that she knew too much about Biology to be a standard cook.

Once, she stayed five months on Cosmoledo atoll among a dozen Seychellois turtle hunters, documenting the precise dynamics of a community reliant on harvesting turtles, sharks, and fish. When camping at night she wore socks on her feet and keep her hair wrapped in cloth so island rats wouldn’t nibble on her toes or collect her hair for making nests. She even ate turtles because food choices, those days, were slim.

Her presence changed them. “When I first arrived, the men were worried I would interfere,” she later wrote. “But by living with them, working alongside them, they developed a new perspective.” She never asked them to stop; she simply watched, listened, and recorded. That data formed the foundation for Seychelles’ 1994 decision to ban turtle hunting entirely.

She laments those days even, because they had a culture around hunting sharks and fishing and turtles, citing a fondness for Mazarin as the fisherman of fishers. She didn’t judge as it was their income and way of life. There are even times when she helped salt the fish for fear it would spoil before reaching the market.

Assomption: A Mirror of the Past

She says that what happened at Cosmoledo in the 1980s is relevant today on Assomption. The threat has shifted—from salted meat and tortoiseshell to artificial light and luxury development—but the stakes remain the same.
“Turtles are most vulnerable when they’re nesting,” Mortimer explains. “And we now know that females may take 30 to 35 years to reach sexual maturity. When they do, they return to the same beach again and again—sometimes for decades.”

These are the turtles that Assomption once hosted in abundance. And thanks to early signs of recovery, they are starting to return. If left undisturbed, Mortimer believes Assomption’s green turtle population could rival or exceed Aldabra’s.

But the Qatari villa development underway presents a new kind of threat. “The biggest issue is lighting,” she says. “Turtles won’t nest if there’s light on the beach. Hatchlings get disoriented. It’s one of the most studied impacts we know.”

And it’s not just turtles. Assomption hosts rare insect communities and bat populations, many of which could be wiped out by light pollution alone. Developers have reportedly promised a 1% footprint—but Mortimer warns that artificial light knows no boundaries. She also knows how devastating pesticides against bugs will harm the insects and the bats that feed off them. She once wanted to be an entomologist and knows how delicately all parts of island nature is connected.

In over five decades of work across more than 20 countries, Mortimer has seen conservation succeed. The many long-term monitoring programs she has coordinated in Seychelles—at places like Cousin, Aride, D’Arros and Aldabra—are now scientific goldmines. They prove that when science and policy align, recovery is not only possible, it is inevitable. Save Our Seas Foundation has been very helpful to her research, she says.

But Assomption is different. No formal turtle survey has ever been published for the island. No environmental management plan is in place. And development is already underway. Educating locals is one thing but now with international investment it’s a beast she has no experience in tackling and is letting environmental activists do the job.

It is, says Mortimer, “a very valid concern.”

She’s not fighting it. But she’s watching, documenting, and—when asked—offering solutions. “Turtle-friendly development is not a metaphor,” she explains. “It’s a science. Setback lines. Blackout curtains. No visible light from the beach. We know how to do this.”

The problem, as she puts it, is not science right now —it’s politics. “I don’t know why they haven’t asked me to help. But I would.”

Despite everything, Mortimer remains focused on what can still be saved. She invests where she can have impact. And she believes in young people—especially the children of those with power.

“If a Qatari child sees a turtle nesting and says, ‘Hey Mom, Dad, we should protect this,’ that might do more than any scientist,” she told me.

Her advice to the next generation isn’t to give up plastic straws. It’s to demand structural change. “The real responsibility lies with governments and corporations. Not individual guilt. We need investment in alternatives—seaweed-based plastics, smart design, policy change.”

Dr. Mortimer served as a mentor and inspiration to Dr. Yaniv Levy, now one of the Mediterranean’s leading sea turtle conservationists who lived on and near Aldabra Atoll for 2 years. He has built a sea turtle hospital, develops complex rehabilitation devices, and artificial flippers and runs a breeding program where he releases thousands of baby sea turtles back to the sea every year with the help of 600 volunteers. His latest research shows how animal feedstock bags tossed into the sea, contribute to sea turtle mortality.

Levy says that Mortimer’s encouragement and science-first approach inspired him when he met her on Aldabra and shaped his philosophy of protection through data and experience. She is the grandmother of sea turtle research, and leads the conversation globally in the annual sea turtle conference.

Meanwhile, Mortimer isn’t slowing down, but rather speeding up so the science gets published. She continues to write papers, to walk beaches, and to document what others might overlook. Assomption, for now, remains a question mark—a fragile bridge between two possible futures.

—

Karin Kloosterman is a former biologist and works as a science journalist and founder of Green Prophet. She interviewed Dr. Jeanne Mortimer for this story in Seychelles and is actively investigating the conservation status of Assomption Island.

To read more in our series see:

Seychelles Island under threat and linked to terror funds

Seychelles and the battle with royalty and rats – a talk with Adrian Skerrett

He lived on Aldabra Atoll and was inspired to protect sea turtles forever

They knew they shouldn’t be there: journalist Kevin Gepford writing a book on tortoises from Aldabra Atoll

Nirmal Jivan Sha on the history of conservation in the Seychelles

Seychelles Island sold to Qatar, leaving the conservationists out

The post They Call Her Madam Torti. She Might Be the Only One Who Can Save Seychelles Turtles appeared first on Green Prophet.

A few weeks ago, I took my son Gabriel to the edge of the sand dunes in Michmoret, a peaceful pocket of the Israeli Mediterranean coast a half hour drive from Tel Aviv. We weren’t there to sunbathe or surf, but to meet a man who has dedicated his life to turtles—at first the ancient ones who still roam the Indian Ocean’s most sacred atoll and injured survivors stranded ashore in a Mediterranean Sea increasingly shaped by war, overfishing, plastics, and politics.

This is the story of Dr. Yaniv Levy, founder of Israel’s Sea Turtle Rescue Center—the world’s only government-supported turtle hospital and breeding center unlike any in the world. But to understand why his work matters, you have to go back nearly 30 years, to another coastline altogether: Aldabra Atoll, part of the Seychelles, one of the last untouched Edens left on Earth.

“My Heart Is Still There”

Levy’s journey began in the mid-1990s. He was 26 and nursing invisible wounds and finding solace underwater—onboard a dive boat in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. For three years he lived and worked on the boat, as a deck-hand, first mate and a dive instructor and guide, spending many months navigating between remote islands of the Seychelles, mainly in Assomption Island and the Aldabra Atoll.

Aldabra is no ordinary coral ring island. Home to giant tortoises, flightless rails, sacred ibis, and staggering numbers of green and hawksbill turtles, it is so pristine that boats are prohibited from entering its lagoon, and a 40 km radius around it. Access comes only through Assomption Island, a now-threatened outpost with a tiny airstrip, where wealthy tourists fly from Mahe before sailing two hours to what Levy calls “holy land.”

“I kissed the ground,” he recalls. “It is one of the most untouched places in the world… maybe one of the five last places of Eden.”

But Eden is under siege.

Today, Qatari developers with alleged terror-funding links are eyeing Assomption for luxury tourism, a move Levy fears will devastate Aldabra by turning its logistical lifeline into a backdoor for exploitation. Green Prophet was contacted by the developer’s PR company but they have not returned with any answers to our questions. It’s been 2 weeks.

“They will kill Aldabra. No questions asked,” says Levy. “It is one of the most preserved areas of the world.”

“You Are a Scientist”

While in the Seychelles, Levy met Roselle Chapman, a British biologist who would become both his mentor and his love. It was she—and her supervisor, the renowned Seychelles-based turtle researcher Dr. Jeanne Mortimer—who first taught him to track, study, and live among turtles.

“She looked at my maps, my drawings, my charts… and said, ‘You are a researcher.’ That changed my life.”

Levy would spend up to 10 days at a time on Aldabra, and over all every visit for two to three months. Sleeping on the boat or near nesting beaches, diving with manta rays and sharks. He remembers it as “the best diving I ever had.”

His dates with Chapman? “They were at turtle nesting sites.”

From Paradise Lost to Hospital Founder

The boat company in the Seychelles went bankrupt–– the original plan was sailing to Micronesia with a documentary crew with only a brief stopover for drydock and maintenance before heading to Micronesia. He found himself in Ashkelon, Israel and started his Marine Biology undergrad degree in Michmoret as Roselle predicted he should, and then, a turtle washed up.

“It was a loggerhead with a hook deep in its throat,” he recalls. A vet removed the necrotic tissue, and Levy—now reporting the case to the authorities as required by law—caught the attention of Ze’ev Kulur, Israel’s chief turtle biologist on behalf of the National Nature and Parks Authority at the time.

He saved the turtle.

After demonstrating his experience in Israel and on Aldabra, Levy was encouraged to launch a formal turtle rescue initiative. In 1999, he founded what would become the only government-supported turtle hospital in the world—a marine rehabilitation facility with research credentials, surgical suites, and even prosthetic limbs and buoyancy stabilizers designed in-house.

“They are lifers,” Levy says of his breeding turtles, about 30 of them in a large pool swimming together. “They’ve only lived in captivity. I don’t believe they can adapt to live in the wild, but their being here in captivity is with a cause for their whole population, they will reproduce and their hatchlings will return to sea and revive the almost extinct population.”

His 30 baby turtle “children”, now over 20 years old, are given names like Moana, Stitch, and Pocahontas. “I call my human kids my second batch,” he says.

Sea Turtles Have No Borders

Levy has treated over 2,000 sea turtles from Israel, Gaza, and beyond. He sees victims of boat strikes, plastic entanglement, and most disturbingly, war and fishing trauma.

“The booms and the bangs… the turtles suffer,” he says. Explosions in Egypt’s Bardawil Lake, where fishermen still use blast fishing, are particularly devastating. “Soft tissue trauma, inner ear injuries. Shockwave trauma.”

He’s tracked turtles rehabilitated in Michmoret—16 tagged individuals—and most of them returned to these dangerous waters. He’s also seen evidence of dynamite fishing in Lebanon, confirming earlier reports by Green Prophet.

In countries nearby, suspicious people sometimes trap or catch birds, turtles and animals tagged by Israel, calling them spies of the Mossad. They are often, sadly, killed. 

According to Levy, turtle injuries are not always visible. Some are so weak they can no longer float or dive. For these cases, Levy has invented floating slings that suspend turtles partially in water, allowing them to heal without exhausting themselves.

Plastic straws, he says, are a red herring. “The real problem is the polypropylene feed sacks—20kg bags used in livestock farming. Turtles get caught in them and lose fins and many die. That straw video from Costa Rica? It’s not really true about the straws, and maybe he tried the best he could, but what’s killing turtles at sea is something else, Levy tells Green Prophet.

He’s written research papers on this phenomenon, citing feed bags for livestock from Eastern European countries that have made it to the sea. 

A Message from Eden

Levy’s work is both clinical and spiritual. A veterinarian scientist with a PhD, he’s published research on turtle rehabilitation and consults globally on marine conservation. But when asked about fear—of being alone on Aldabra, for instance—his answer is revealing:

“I’m more afraid of people than of animals.”

Though his collaboration with Gaza has decreased—some residents now eat turtles out of protein desperation—he emphasizes empathy. “I don’t judge. I understand.”

He also stresses the regional unity among turtle workers. “Despite the conflict, we work with our Arab neighbors. People who work with turtles are… cool.”

The Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center will open its breeding program to the public in September, offering hands-on education for children and adults. More than 600 volunteers already help guard nesting sites, relocate eggs to hatcheries, and release baby turtles back to sea.

“This is not just conservation,” Levy says. “It’s about showing that turtles have no borders.”

Assomption Island may seem far away—just a dot on a maritime chart near Mahe—but its fate is linked to our own. The ecological encroachment by luxury developers and the silent suffering of sea turtles in war zones should alarm anyone who cares about nature’s last strongholds.

Sign up for hatching tours and more at the Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center.

? Learn more: Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center
? Related: Green Prophet on Seychelles island development threatens Aldabra Atoll
? Take Action: Stop development at Assomption Island. Support the campaign at friendsofaldabra.org

The post Yaniv Levy’s Lifelong Quest to Protect Sea Turtles in a Time of War and Greed appeared first on Green Prophet.

Portland-based environmental journalist Kevin Gepford, currently researching a book on global tortoise conservation spent two months on Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll between December and January, living at the island’s remote research station with 16 other people. It’s so isolated out there—about 1,000 miles from Seychelles’ main island Mahé—that it might as well be Mars. He agrees that change will be coming fast.

Aldabra’s nearest island neighbor, Assomption, is becoming a playground for Qatari royalty and affluent Middle Eastern tourists. A Qatar-based investment company called the Assets Group, and a reported $25 million USD land-lease agreement with the Seychelles government, means that developers, against public concerns, have extended the landing strip to accommodate international flights, and about 1,000 construction workers are on the island currently laying out plots for 40 high-end villas—touted as a luxury resort. Most suspect they will become private villas.

Conservationists we spoke with from Mahé say that no one knows what’s happening on Assomption right now. Access and photos are not allowed. Presidential candidate Maarco Francis says they are building as fast as possible because the current president Wavel Ramkalawan believes construction will be irreversible once the elections are held in September. 

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Aldabra is one of the most ecologically pristine places left on Earth—home to more than 100,000 giant tortoises and the last surviving species of flightless rail in the Indian Ocean. It is managed by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and is considered an outpost of evolution. Gepford says what he witnessed there shows how fragile that isolation has become.

“I went there to understand how tortoises live—talk with experts about their ecology, and really understand what pressures they and the atoll are facing.”

He observed these pressures in real time:

“I went along with the island staff on a trip around the atoll for an inspection—a part of the day—and unexpectedly came across a catamaran at the edge of the reef,” despite prohibitions on coming close. 

Maritime maps say not to approach within a 40 km radius around the atoll or Assomption Island, says turtle expert Dr. Yaniv Levi who lived and worked as a divemaster on Aldabra for more than two years in the late 1990s. Skippers know that these islands are protected, he tells Green Prophet. 

“It was a really nice yacht,” says Gepford. 

The skipper of the boat hailed the vessel. “We shouted to talk to us on their hand-held radio on a certain channel—and asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ 

“We expected them to blame either the weather or engine trouble,” says Gepford, 

“They said, ‘We just got blown off course because of the cyclone and thought we’d come by for a look. We’re sailing  to Mahé.’”

Gepford said it was clear the crew knew they had crossed a line, and SIF’s skipper warned them to be prepared for a biosecurity inspection when they reached Mahé.

“We took pictures of the yacht  and reported it back to the authorities in the Seychelles—to be aware,” Gepford said.

The concern isn’t symbolic. Aldabra’s team enforces one of the most rigorous biosecurity protocols in the Indian Ocean.

“They picked out seeds from my shoes with tweezers, and made me wash the blades of my handheld fan. Look through everything—and look at it twice,” said Gepford. “It’s invasive species, seeds, pathogens—anything that could damage the ecosystem.”

The chartered yacht, he later learned, had come from Zanzibar. Its passengers appeared to be South African or European tourists. As for the charter companies: “That’s their business—to take wealthy people to the ocean and see different things.”

A Growing Worry: Assomption Island

Gepford’s presence on Aldabra coincided with escalating concerns over the neighboring island of Assomption, the only access point to Aldabra by air. The Assomption runway, once a modest strip, has recently been extended, with signs of construction and development activity tied to Middle Eastern investment.

“Access to Aldabra is through Assomption. Historically, there’s been a runway on Assomption. It’s been extended at both ends  because of the development that’s happening,” Gepford said.

Assomption, long ignored by development, now appears poised to shift. That shift is deeply worrying to those stationed on Aldabra.

“From Aldabra’s perspective—they’re worried. Assomption is one of the last undeveloped islands in the Seychelles, and it’s less than 20 miles away. Assomption’s development  will bring a lot of commercial activity, people, boats, and airplanes very close. One of the things that historically helped save Aldabra along with its ecosystems and unique plants and animals has been its sheer inaccessibility.”

This isn’t just a hypothetical threat. The atoll’s recent conservation successes—especially for sea turtles—demonstrate how delicate these ecosystems are. Green turtles have been protected on Aldabra for more than 50 years.

“The green turtle recovery on Aldabra has been astounding—from less than 2,000 to 3,000 clutches per season in the 1960s to more than 15,000,” he noted. “Assomption may  be just as important as a nesting site. But that beach has not  been studied for sea turtle research.”

How a small team of Seychellois can defend that is anyone’s guess—but for now, Gepford doesn’t think that’s the biggest threat. 

A Book Rooted in Observation

Gepford is documenting this, from a tortoise perspective, for a nonfiction book for W. W. Norton & Company that follows the story of tortoises—and the people trying to save them—from Madagascar to Mauritius, the Galápagos, and now the Seychelles.

“Tortoises in the western Indian Ocean are a microcosm of the challenges facing the natural world today. What’s happening in Assomption reflects broader patterns globally.”

“The biggest challenge globally for nearly every wild species is habitat loss… Our cities are growing, and wildlands are converted to farmland—this crowds out animals of all kinds. Tortoises and turtles are hit really hard.”

The deeper message behind his project is about limits—what we encroach on, and what we choose to leave intact.

“What is our place in the world? Can we tread more lightly, and live with care and concern for all God’s creatures?”

Gepford’s book comes out in 2026.

::The Tortoise Project

The post “They Knew They Shouldn’t Be There”: Journalist Kevin Gepford Witnesses Rising Pressures on Aldabra Atoll appeared first on Green Prophet.

Second generation Seychellois conservation leader speaks candidly about the Qatar deal on Assomption Island, environmental secrecy, and the rising tide of neo-colonialism in the Indian Ocean

As controversy brews over a Qatari-backed development on Seychelles’ remote Assomption Island, questions are being raised about environmental transparency, geopolitical influence, and the future of conservation. I reached out to Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah, CEO of Nature Seychelles, for his unfiltered perspective. A second-generation Seychellois conservationist, Shah has led the rescue of endangered birds, worked with luxury hotels on reef restoration, and witnessed firsthand the transformation of his country’s ecological and political landscape.

Nirmal has talked extensively about the problems of managing 155 islands with a small population of 100,000 people. Some of the islands have been isolated for millions of years, but when settlers came 250 years ago they disrupted and devastated ecosystems for hardwood, and to plant coconuts and cinnamon. He is working to restore island ecosystems through his not-for-profit organization. 

This interview follows my previous reporting on the topic, including conversations with presidential hopeful Maarco Francis and longtime conservationist Adrian Skerrett.

Karin Kloosterman: You’ve worked with private island owners for decades in Seychelles. How does this current deal on Assomption compare?

Nirmal Jivan Shah: I’ve led some of the most successful island restoration and endemic bird rescue projects in Africa and Indian Ocean with 5 star properties on private islands in Seychelles over a period of more than 15 years. If it wasn’t the alliance we forged with these private owners, frankly birds that were on the brink of extinction such as the Seychelles Magpie Robin would have vanished by now. We’ve also been working with internationally branded hotels to restore coral reefs around Praslin island.

Now we are partnering with 5 star establishments on Mahe island and the Ministry responsible for Environment to restore and co-manage wetlands including mangroves. These are amazing examples of corporate responsibility and private investment in the environment.

However, developments wrapped in mystery and secrecy are not the way to go.

The high drama around the Assumption project would not have happened if there was transparency and independent conservation organisations like Nature Seychelles would have been involved from day one. 

I was not comfortable that the NGO Island Conservation Society which works very closely with the Island Development Co, a State Owned Enterprise leading the push for the Assumption project along with its allied company Green Island Construction, undertook the EIA.

I think the ICS should have been the independent, objective party to assess the EIA and monitor the development. As NGOs, I believe we should be watchdogs and honest-brokers.

Karin: Some argue Assomption Island was bound to be developed. Do you agree?

Nirmal: Assumption island itself was ecologically ruined with guano mining during colonial times and development there was inevitable at some point. The sensitivity of it though that is that it is the “gateway” to Aldabra. However, no international conservation organisation had expressed interest in it and the Seychelles Government doesn’t have the resources to maintain and monitor Assumption nor all the other far flung islands of the Seychelles.

Karin: The Seychelles Islands Foundation has raised concerns. Could they help restore oversight?

Nirmal: The Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) responsible for Aldabra has said it was inadequately informed and consulted. If the SIF gains responsibility for biosecurity and monitoring over the operations, I would be more comfortable.

Karin: What about the broader trend of development in Seychelles?

Nirmal: In general in Seychelles it is obvious there is now overdevelopment of hotels on Mahe in particular but other islands as well. There has been resistance from environmental activists and members of the public which have been well covered by the local media. I believe that after so many years of quite good planning and environmental controls Seychelles has succumbed to big money development across the board.

Karin: You told me everything was approved through proper government channels?

Nirmal: As I understand it, the project was legally approved, by the Cabinet of Ministers, then an EIA was made and approved, and finally approval by the Planning Authority. This is the crux of the problem.

Karin: Your father, Kantilal Jivan Shah, was a legendary conservationist. What might he think?

Nirmal: My father was one of a handful of Seychellois who fought to prevent the British from building a naval base on Aldabra, and who was instrumental in getting the owner of Cousin Island to sell it to BirdLife International to save the Seychelles warbler. But I’m not sure what he would think about development on Assomption. His company supplied and bought copra from the outer islands, including as far away as Diego García, so the development of islands was normal to them to run the plantation-based economy.

Karin: You also revealed a surprising connection between Assomption and sand extraction?

Nirmal: Hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of sand have been taken from Assumption where aeolian dunes build up. In modern times this was done to, reportedly, build the beach at Sun City in South Africa, at the International Airport to welcome the Miss World contestants, and now apparently for the FIFA beach soccer competition this year. 

Karin: What are your thoughts on the Qatar connection? Some critics say this feels like neo-colonialism.

Nirmal: There are still neo-colonial forces dominating Seychelles. The EU tuna fisheries is an example that I personally have publicly contested. The difference today is that Seychellois are by and large well-off and successful and not slaves being worked to death or impoverished workers with no future. Which is why it’s difficult to get many people worked up about what’s going on in the far-flung outer islands where 95% of the population have never been. My conversations with people also reveal that quite a few Seychellois feel that a tiny country with few resources has to make trade-offs to remain actually viable in a hugely complex and increasingly difficult-to-navigate world.

Karin: You’ve said the country faces income inequality and a drug crisis. Can you elaborate?

Nirmal: It’s not to say that 100% of the population have been able to take advantage of economic opportunities and income inequality is a growing problem (as in all high income countries). As is a huge heroin addiction problem (but that also takes money to buy. Where are they getting the money?) Seychelles is the only High Income country in Africa and reports say it is also in a sort of narco-corridor in the Western Indian Ocean with Madagascar and Mauritius forming a nexus of drug trafficking and corruption.

Karin: Do you believe anyone—such as Maarco Francis or a new president—could reverse the Assomption deal?

Nirmal: My take is it would be difficult to halt it at this point. I’ve been told all the proper steps were taken, as per the laws, as I said before. Cabinet of Ministers approved it, EIA was submitted and approved, Planning Authority approved the plans.

Karin: Thank you, Nirmal, for being so candid. It’s clear the story of Assomption is not just about one island, but about how a nation balances sovereignty, ecology, and power.

For related reading see:

Seychelles’ Assomption Island Sold to Qatar: An Alleged $50M Deal Sparks Uproar Over Heroin, Corruption, and a Vanishing Paradise

Is UNESCO nature island being bought by terror-linked funds?

Seychelles and the battle with royalty, rats, and the last truly wild places left on Earth

The post Q&A: Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah on Assomption Island, Qatar, and the State of Conservation in the Seychelles appeared first on Green Prophet.

A remote coral island in the Indian Ocean is quietly being transformed into a luxury resort and international airstrip for Qatari royalty—allegedly sold off in a secretive $50 million deal to Qatar by Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, without public consent or environmental oversight. The deal is linked to alleged terror funds. 

The backdoor deal, first rumored in Indian media and brought to light by opposition leader Maarco Francis, President of the Seychelles United Movement political party, threatens the fragile ecosystems of nearby Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to rare birds, turtles, and giant tortoises. The atoll is globally revered for its ecological importance, and the development of Assomption—just 27 km away—is igniting fierce resistance among locals and environmentalists. We interviewed a leading conservationist here.

“They built an international airport on a coral island with no environmental impact study,” Francis tells Green Prophet. “The president is pushing construction forward as fast as possible before elections this September, hoping future governments won’t be able to stop it,” he says.

Fragile Coral Island, Rare Nesting Site for Turtles 

Assomption Island, unlike granite-based Mahé, is a low-lying coral formation. It hosts vital nesting grounds for endangered green sea turtles and stretches of untouched white sand—the longest of any in Seychelles.

What makes the situation even more alarming is Assomption’s proximity to Aldabra, which lies within a marine protection zone created through a high-profile “debt-for-nature” swap meant to safeguard 30% of Seychelles’ ocean territory.

Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean is one of the largest raised coral reefs in the world. This atoll, consisting of coral islands ringing a shallow lagoon, is known for the hundreds of endemic species—including the Aldabra giant tortoise—that live there. According to UNESCO, Aldabra contains one of the most important natural habitats for studying evolutionary and ecological processes.

But according to Francis, secrecy and foreign influence have trumped conservation. Qatari construction and a 1,000-person crew from India and Bangladesh have already begun work on Assomption, despite local opposition.

Francis tells Green Prophet that he connected the dots when he heard about a Gulf royal bragging in an Indian newspaper that her husband had bought an island in the Indian Ocean for $50 million. At the same time the news came out President Ramkalawan of the Seychelles was in the Maldives. He claims the two incidents are connected. 

Conservationists like Adrian Skerrett, Chairman of the Island Conservation Society, have heard reports of damage already done to the dunes.

Francis says, yes, access is tightly restricted: drones are forbidden, photography is controlled, and independent visits to the island require Qatari authorization, he claims. You could take a boat out for a 3-day trip to the island but they won’t let you on it. Not even if you were the BBC, he says. 

A Locked-Down Island and a Silenced Nation

Environmentalists and journalists have been barred from visiting Assomption, says Francis. The Qataris, he claims, now effectively control the island.

“You won’t get permission. The government won’t grant it,” he claims. “They’ve built a dock. Foreign workers live in container housing. Diesel is shipped in and polluting the sea. The currents will carry that pollution straight to Aldabra.”

Locals also report that planes and supplies are landing directly on the island without passing through Seychelles’ immigration systems—suggesting an autonomous zone operating outside the nation’s legal framework. This worries Francis both now and for the future.

One in 10 Seychellois is addicted to heroin. This heroin is trafficked from Iran and Afghanistan. An international airport with no government oversight would be a free pass for the drug trade into the Seychelles and the rest of Africa where it can be transported out. Animals are at risk too –– Gulf countries lead the way with an appetite for illegal wildlife trade.

Terror Links and Unanswered Questions

Francis alleges the development is being fast-tracked with funds linked to Qatari investors—a case currently under investigation in the UK with connections to alleged terror financing and potentially tied to interests far beyond tourism. He questions why the President met Qatari officials in the Maldives instead of in Qatar or Seychelles, hinting at intentional secrecy.

“There are allegations of terror financing,” Francis says. “Our own political broadcasters reported it. The BBC is silent. Maybe it’s because the UK is bought by Qatar. Everyone’s turning a blind eye because there’s money involved.”

As for locating the alleged $50 million: “It’s backhand money—you don’t know where it goes,” says Francis. “He was trying to go somewhere he thought no one would notice. But we’re aware of the terror money links. He’s been silent on that, pretending he doesn’t know. This group is linked to terrorists. They are building an international airport, and we as a country won’t know who’s going there or what deals are being done.”

Francis also points to the President’s dual role as patron of the Seychelles Islands Foundation—a conflict of interest, he says, that lets him sidestep environmental protections.

“He appoints the chairman,” Francis says. “So of course, the study will say it’s okay. But scientists and the public are strongly opposed.”

Crisis at Home: Heroin, Despair, and a Stolen Future

While foreign elites carve out paradise for themselves, everyday Seychellois suffer. Youth unemployment is high. Over 10% of the population is addicted to heroin. Hope is vanishing as fast as the coastline on Assomption.

“Our youth have no opportunities to achieve their dreams. They get depressed and turn to drugs,” says Francis. “They need something to aspire to, something that makes them want to wake up in the morning and break the routine.”

Francis says agriculture development projects could help.

At 47, he presents himself as a businessman with a vision, offering a generational shift from an older, out-of-touch leader. He’s running for president this September and says he will win, appealing to younger voters who understand environmental sustainability.

“The current president is 65. We need leadership that protects the environment and creates prosperity.”

A New Chagos Moment?

The crisis draws comparisons to the Chagos Islands scandal, when Britain ceded land to the U.S. military, displacing its inhabitants. Back then, public resistance stopped the destruction. Francis believes the same can happen again. Seychellois also previously stopped India from developing a military base on Assomption that would have required a larger runway and heavy docks.

“This is our Chagos moment,” he warns. “Back then we fought. Now, our own president has sold us out.”

In the 1960s, Seychellois scientists and citizens protested U.S. military expansion, ultimately preserving foreign influence. Today, the threat comes not from a colonial power—but from within. 

“He’s an Anglican priest, but clearly this is not about faith. He is blinded by money.”

With elections looming and construction underway, the future of one of the planet’s last untouched ecosystems—and the soul of a nation—hangs in the balance.

President Ramkalawan’s press secretary acknowledged our request for comment. There is currently no comment from his office. 

Read our previous articles on the Seychelles scandal:

Rats and Royalty with conservationist Adrian Skerrett 

UNESCO-island development linked to terror funds

The post Seychelles’ Assomption Island Sold to Qatar: An Alleged $50M Deal Sparks Uproar Over Heroin, Corruption, and a Vanishing Paradise appeared first on Green Prophet.

A Fine Line in Paradise: Bird expert Adrian Skerrett on Cautious Development in the Seychelles

Off the powder-soft sands and turquoise waters of the Seychelles, a quiet storm is brewing—one that involves royalty, rats, and the last truly wild places left on Earth.

At the heart of it all is Assomption Island, what could be a jewel of an island in the remote Aldabra Group in the Outer Seychelles islands. While its neighboring atoll, Aldabra, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to rare flightless birds and thousands of nesting turtles, Assomption is scarred from a history of guano mining, a failed Indian army expansion plan, and is now the center of a controversial luxury development funded by Qatari investors –– linked to terror funding.

Adrian Skerrett, a long-time Seychelles resident on Mahé and a leading authority on its birdlife, has been watching over these islands for decades. He’s not against development but is for balance. As Chairman of the Island Conservation Society and editor of a number of definitive field guides on the region’s birds, he knows the tightrope between development and destruction better than anyone.

I know that if I am going to get any reliable information about the Seychelles, birders are the best choice. They are usually modest elders with experience, meticulous in documentation and they have a keen sense for the beautiful and fragile balance of life on earth. As a bonus, Skerrett is an accountant.

“We’re not against development,” he tells Green Prophet. “There are positives to come out of it. Some of our most successful conservation efforts are supported by tourism—eradication of rats, monitoring of turtles, even full-time conservation staff on islands like Alphonse.”

But Assomption is different, he says. And its development has roused a handful of international conservation organizations who believe that the development of Assomption will lead to a catastrophic downfall of nature. A lesson like that was learned in Thailand after The Beach movie turned Maya Beach into an over-touristed spot that devastated the nature around it. Thailand was able to roll back development, but will the Seychelles?

A Royal Playground Disguised as a Hotel?

Seychelles decided it wanted to develop and put out a tender which Qatar answered. It was the only group to answer. The proposed resort is being developed on Assomption Island by the Qatari Assets Development Company, part of the Assets Group, whose leadership—Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat—are currently embroiled in UK lawsuits over alleged links to terrorist financing.

The development, Skerrett says, is “seemingly for private use, for members of the royal family.”

The concern? “There is no way this is a commercially viable hotel. The original plans were horrendous including jetties, construction and lighting right on top of the beach and development on the dunes creating nightmare risks of disturbance to nesting turtles and damage to fragile ecosystems. There was an apparent lack of concern for planning procedures.”

Despite early enthusiasm from the developers, Skerrett and his team were hired to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment—and what they found was alarming. (You can find the report here)

“We used our scientists and hired a number of other experts under the umbrella of ICS. I am Chairman, but the authors had a free reign to write what they saw without me,” he says.

“They wanted to build directly on the beach, on top of dune ecosystems. Some damage had already begun before we arrived.

“To be fair, following discussions, the developers made amendments to their original plans and agreed to a minimum 40-metre setback from the high-water mark while the proposed two jetties would be reduced to one, involving the rebuilding of the historical jetty to its former size and adding a floating pontoon to the end. The dune system had already been damaged prior to arrival of the ICS team and we are very concerned there will be further damage. We are also deeply concerned that the EIA beach set back will not be respected.

“Unfortunately we now have no access to Assomption to monitor the situation.”

In documentation and videos that Green Prophet found online through a hired “explorer” and which is being used to advertise the developer’s plans, we see photographers going on missions and walking around nesting sites on the islands while baby turtles are trying to make their way to the sea.

Who is overseeing the private explorations and fact-finding missions?

Assomption once boasted one of the most significant nesting beaches for endangered green turtles. Exploitation in the early 20^th century saw thousands taken. Every year thousands would be culled, until they crashed and disappeared. “Turtles take 30 to 40 years to mature. It was only much later that we started to see the impact of what happened decades ago,” says Skerrett.

He recalls a previous proposal to hand Assomption over to the Indian government for use as a military base—an idea that was met with strong public and environmental resistance. “It would have been an absolute disaster,” he says. “A deep-water port, heavy infrastructure—it was horrific.”

That plan was eventually scrapped due to public outcry, but now the concern is that tourism may be used as a political mask. “There is no way this is a commercially viable hotel.

“If the EIA is not respected, it will be an absolute disaster for the turtles.”

The development threatens a resurgence of turtles. Plans show construction stretching across the island’s best beaches, about a 3-mile stretch where turtles nest. Worse still, there’s currently no conservation presence.

“The Qataris want development along the entire stretch of beach,” says Skerrett.

“What we’re fighting for now is a model like Alphonse—where the investor pays a conservation levy, enabling year-round conservation presence, biodiversity monitoring and rehabilitation projects. Without it, this becomes a private playground with no accountability.”

Conservation Requires Teeth—and Cash

Skerrett and his colleagues have already created a foundation for Assomption, which has been merged with other existing foundations to create the Aldabra Group Foundation. Trustees would include government representatives, NGOs, and even Qatari stakeholders will be invited onto the board. The goal: fund full-time staff, implement rehabilitation programs, and, critically, eradicate invasive rats.

“If you’ve ever been to a rat-free island,” he says, “you feel the difference in the whole biodiversity. Lizards, birds—rats devastate everything.”

The rats on the outer islands, he adds with a dry laugh are “Arabic rats,” while those closer to Mahé are “French.”

The distinction is genetic—but poetic, given the geopolitical stakes.

Aldabra: What Could Go Wrong?

The ripple effects don’t stop at Assomption. Conservationists worry the project will increase traffic to Aldabra, potentially compromising biosecurity and fragile ecosystems.

“Motorised sports of any kind are strictly prohibited in the  Aldabra group for a reason,” says Skerrett. “But we have been advised that the promoters propose a comprehensive marine recreation facility on Assomption involving over two dozen boats and motorised water sports, as well as a marine workshop and repair facilities and additional accommodation, none of it envisaged under the initial masterplans which were subject to the EIA.

“We’re concerned this could bring pressure—more frequent helicopter visits, uncontrolled access, seeds on shoes, invasive species.”

The Seychelles Islands Foundation has promised oversight for biosecurity, but with no current supervision on Assomption and reports of construction crews already active, Skerrett is deeply uneasy.

“They initially wanted 1,500 workers. That’s insane. We said 500 max, but who knows what’s actually happening there right now.”

How You Can Help

The Island Conservation Society has established a UK-registered charity to support conservation in the Seychelles. Donations are tax-deductible, and funds go toward island-specific endowments—building a financial buffer for the future of biodiversity in the region.

For conservationists and ecotourists alike, Skerrett’s vision is clear:

“Tourism has brought us wealth, stability. You don’t see begging or homelessness here like in the West. But if we let private development run rampant, the cost will be our wildest places—and the creatures that call them home.”

Prior to the project, Assomption Island was not permanently inhabited by a civilian population. The only people who resided on the island were a small number of personnel from the Islands Development Company (IDC) who maintain the airstrip and oversee basic infrastructure.

The Islands Development Company (IDC) of Seychelles is a parastatal organization owned by the government, tasked with overseeing the sustainable development of the nation’s outer islands. The company plays a vital role in managing islands such as Alphonse, Assomption, and Farquhar, focusing on eco-tourism, conservation, and agricultural development.

The IDC is run by a board of directors: Cyril Bonnelame, who was appointed CEO in January 2025, leads the operational direction of the company, bringing over 25 years of experience in various sectors. The board, including directors such as Naadir Hassan (Chairperson) and Astride Tamatave (Vice-Chairperson), ensures strategic decision-making and policy implementation to align with national and environmental objectives.

IDC and ICS have signed an agreement, recognizing ICS as conservation advisors on all IDC islands.

The company plays a vital role in managing islands such as Alphonse, Assomption, and Farquhar, focusing on eco-tourism, conservation, and agricultural development.

There is no established community, and no public facilities like schools, hospitals, or stores on Assomption Island.

With limited oversight and major concerns voiced by local conservationists like Skerrett, this island will quietly become a playground for the ultra-rich without public scrutiny or ecological safeguards.

Green Prophet uncovered footage from Swedish photographer Jesper Anhede—hired by Qatari developers and now based in Qatar according to his LinkedIn profile —freely roaming turtle nesting sites on the islands during peak turtle season. He is also reaching out to his network on Instagram looking for developers who can help the Qatari investors build glamping sites for Qatari royalty.

This raises serious questions: who authorized these excursions? Who is regulating the access?

Green Prophet reached out to Anhede about environmental oversight when he is at the Seychelles and he quickly deleted his Instagram profile shortly thereafter and stopped replying to our messages.

If you believe in the power of transparency and storytelling to protect fragile ecosystems, reach out to the The Island Conservation Society. Let’s help them find the right allies —journalists, scientists, conservationists, and funders. Assomption may not have a population, but its silence doesn’t mean it has no voice.

It’s time we amplify it.

Send tips to seychelles@greenprophet.com

The post Seychelles and the battle with royalty, rats, and the last truly wild places left on Earth appeared first on Green Prophet.

An island in Africa’s smallest country is under scrutiny as conservationists raise alarm over an ultra-luxury development project on Assomption Island, Seychelles. Backed by Qatari investors with ties to controversial financial dealings (and alleged terror funds), the resort poses a potential threat to the Aldabra Atoll—one of the world’s most significant biodiversity hotspots and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We spoke with a local conservationist Adriam Skerret, bird expert and chairman of the Island Conservation Society on Mahé, whose interview we will publish next week. He told us that construction workers are already on the ground in Assomption and that there is no oversight.

“We are very concerned – there is no supervision. They are on the island and no one is there. Construction teams are there. They wanted 1500 construction workers and we said that’s too many. Never should there be more than 500. Who knows what’s goes on.”

Assomption Island lies roughly 20 miles from Aldabra Atoll, often called an “outpost for evolution” due to its unique ecological makeup and high concentration of endemic species. The island is home to endangered nesting sea turtles, giant tortoises, and over 400 species found nowhere else on Earth.

Construction has reportedly begun on Assomption Island for a development that includes luxury villas, a wellness spa, extended airstrip, and other high-end amenities. Conservationists argue this could devastate fragile habitats and pave the way for further commercial encroachment in the Aldabra region.

A 3-mile stretch of beach on Assomption is one of the best beaches in the Seychelles and a main breeding ground for the green turtle, says Skerret.

Despite opposition from some environmental NGOs and local communities (Skerret personally is for development, but in the right way), the Seychelles government has approved the project. Critics have questioned the transparency of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, alleging it was expedited and potentially influenced by vested interests.

Qatari Influence and Allegations

The development is backed by the Assets Group, led by the Al-Khayyat brothers, whose business dealings have attracted international scrutiny. The pair have been implicated in UK court proceedings alleging ties to extremist financing—though these allegations remain under legal review.

Assets Group, the Qatari conglomerate behind the Assomption Island development, is led by the Al-Khayyat brothers—figures currently embroiled in UK legal proceedings over allegations of financing terrorist organizations. Court documents and investigative reports have linked the group to funneling funds through charitable fronts and construction firms tied to extremist networks, raising serious ethical and geopolitical concerns about their involvement in high-profile international projects.

When the Seychelles put out a tender for a development, Qatar was the only one who responded.

Observers such as the Friends of Aldabra fear that the resort is part of a broader geopolitical strategy: using opaque investment structures to gain strategic footholds in vulnerable island nations. Qatar’s expansion into tourism infrastructure across the Global South has raised similar concerns elsewhere.

A Troubled History of Assomption

According to ornithologist and conservationist Chris Feare, Assomption has already suffered catastrophic ecological damage due to guano mining in the 20th century. “Virtually all of its birds, some of them endemic forms, all of its Giant Tortoises and most of its vegetation were lost,” says Feare. The current development could undo decades of slow ecological recovery.

Assomption also serves as a critical logistical access point to the Aldabra region. Conservationists argue that once the airstrip is expanded to accommodate private jets, increased development pressure will follow across other islands in the Outer Islands District.

The Seychelles has long promoted itself as a global leader in marine conservation through its Blue Economy initiatives and high-profile international environmental partnerships. The Assomption project could undermine that reputation, and with national elections on the horizon, public scrutiny is mounting.

Despite concern from prominent figures, including Nirmal Shah, CEO of Nature Seychelles, institutional influence appears limited. “I have no role in any regulatory matter. I run an NGO,” he commented via LinkedIn. We have sent him more questions and he says he will return to us next week.

Visual materials shared by Assets Group show an ultra-luxury resort featuring up to 40 beachfront villas, an outdoor cinema, children’s clubs, diving experiences, and atoll sunset tours—all under the guise of “sustainable luxury.” The resort operator is expected to be announced in 2025, with an opening scheduled for 2027.

Meanwhile, activists continue to raise awareness and rally support to halt the development. The Island Conservation Society produced this environment assessment.

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