Editing Seychelles (section)

=== Wildlife ===
{{main|Wildlife of Seychelles}}
{{multiple image|total_width=300
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| image1 = Seychelles Paradise-flycatcher.jpg
| image2 = Bird flocks Bird Island Seychelles.jpg
| footer = Left: [[Seychelles paradise flycatcher]]; right: bird flocks on [[Bird Island, Seychelles]]
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[[file:Aldabra Female on Curieuse.JPG|thumb|upright|An [[Aldabra giant tortoise]]]]

Seychelles is among the world's leading countries to protect lands for [[threatened species]], allocating 42% of its territory for [[conservation (ethic)|conservation]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/mapped-the-countries-with-the-most-protected-areas/|title=Mapped: The countries with the most protected land (#1 might surprise you)|work=The Telegraph|access-date=7 February 2018|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223043633/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/mapped-the-countries-with-the-most-protected-areas/|archive-date=23 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Like many fragile island ecosystems, Seychelles saw the [[Biodiversity loss|loss of biodiversity]] when humans first settled in the area, including the disappearance of most of the [[Aldabrachelys|giant tortoise]]s from the granitic islands, the felling of coastal and mid-level forests, and the extinction of species such as the [[Seychelles chestnut-flanked white-eye|chestnut flanked white eye]], the [[Seychelles parakeet]], and the [[saltwater crocodile]]. However, extinctions were far fewer than on islands such as [[Mauritius]] or [[Hawaii]], partly due to a shorter period of human occupation. Seychelles today is known for success stories in protecting its flora and fauna. The rare [[Seychelles black parrot]], the national bird of the country, is now protected.

The [[freshwater crab]] genus ''[[Seychellum]]'' is endemic to the granitic Seychelles, and a further 26 species of crabs and five species of [[hermit crab]]s live on the islands.<ref name="Haig">{{cite book | first= Janet |last= Haig|year=1984 |chapter=Land and freshwater crabs of the Seychelles and neighbouring islands |page=123 |editor=David Ross Stoddart |title=Biogeography and Ecology of the Seychelles Islands |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=978-90-6193-107-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAu6qogRHloC&pg=PA123 | via= Google Books}}</ref> From the year 1500 until the mid-1800s (approximately), the then-previously unknown [[Aldabra giant tortoise]] was killed for food by pirates and sailors, driving their numbers to near-extinction levels. Today, a healthy yet fragile population of 150,000 tortoises live solely on the atoll of Aldabra, declared a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5078/Aldabra-Tortoise |publisher=Idaho Falls Zoo/City of Idaho Falls, Idaho |accessdate=15 October 2022 |title=Aldabra giant tortoise}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/185/ |title=Aldabra Atoll – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=15 October 2022}}</ref> Additionally, these ancient reptiles can further be found in numerous zoos, botanical gardens, and private collections internationally. Their protection from poaching and smuggling is overseen by [[CITES]], whilst [[captive breeding]] has greatly reduced the negative impact on the remaining wild populations. The granitic islands of Seychelles supports three extant species of [[Seychelles giant tortoise]].

Seychelles hosts some of the largest [[Bird colony|seabird colonies]] in the world, notably on the outer islands of Aldabra and Cosmoledo. In [[granitic Seychelles]] the largest colonies are on [[Aride Island]] including the world's largest numbers of two species. The [[sooty tern]] also breeds on the islands. Other common birds include [[cattle egret]] (''Bubulcus ibis'') and the [[fairy tern]] (''Gygis alba'').<ref>{{cite book| last= Attenborough| first= D| year= 1998| title= The Life of Birds| pages= 220–221| publisher= BBC |isbn= 0563-38792-0}}</ref> More than 1,000 species of fish have been recorded.{{citation needed|date= January 2022}}

The granitic islands of Seychelles are home to roughly 268 [[Angiosperms|flowering plant]] species, of which 70 (28%) are endemic.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Phylogenetic affinity of an enigmatic Rubiaceae from the Seychelles revealing a recent biogeographic link with Central Africa: gen. nov. Seychellea and trib. nov. Seychelleeae |date=2020 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106685 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105579031930449X |last1=Razafimandimbison |first1=Sylvain G. |last2=Kainulainen |first2=Kent |last3=Senterre |first3=Bruno |last4=Morel |first4=Charles |last5=Rydin |first5=Catarina |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=143 |pmid=31734453 |bibcode=2020MolPE.14306685R }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://macce.gov.sc/seychelles-clearing-house-mechanism/species/|title=Species – Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment}}</ref> Particularly well known is the [[coco de mer]], a species of palm that grows only on the islands of [[Praslin]] and neighbouring [[Curieuse]]. Sometimes nicknamed the "love nut" (the shape of its "double" coconut resembles buttocks), the coco-de-mer produces the world's heaviest seed. The [[jellyfish tree]] is to be found in only a few locations on Mahé. This strange and ancient plant, in a genus of its own, ''[[Medusagyne]]'' seems to reproduce only in cultivation and not in the wild. Other unique plant species include Wright's gardenia (''[[Rothmannia annae]]''), found only on [[Aride Island]]’s Special Reserve. There are several unique species of orchid on the islands. Famous botanist Dr. Herb Herbertson was known for his love of the islands unique orchid varieties.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gachanja |first1=Nelly |title=All About Seychelles |url=https://www.africa.com/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-seychelles/ |website=www.africa.com}}</ref>

Seychelles is home to two terrestrial ecoregions: [[Granitic Seychelles forests]] and [[Aldabra Island xeric scrub]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|author-link1=:de:Eric Dinerstein|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|author-link6=Eric Wikramanayake|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|author-link10=Reed Noss|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|author-link12=Harvey Locke|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C.|author-link13=Erle Ellis|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|author-link18=Vance Martin|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Secrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|author-link24=Kieran Suckling|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|author-link39=Shahina A. Ghazanfar|last40=Timberlate|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=3|date=2017-04-05|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=[[BioScience]]|volume=67|issue=6|pages=534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|doi-access=free|pmc=5451287|pmid=28608869|issn=0006-3568}}</ref> The country had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 10/10, ranking it first globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S. |last2= Duncan| first2= A. |last3= Evans| first3= T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L. |last6= Schuster| first6= R. |last7= Walston |first7= J. |last8= Ray |first8= J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.| last13= DeGemmis |first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15= Ervin |first15= J. |last16= Franco |first16= P. |last17= Goldman |first17= E. |last18= Goetz |first18= S. |last19= Hansen| first19= A.| last20= Hofsvang| first20= E.| last21= Jantz| first21= P.| last22= Jupiter| first22= S.| last23= Kang| first23= A.| last24= Langhammer| first24= P.| last25= Laurance| first25= W. F.| last26= Lieberman| first26= S.| last27= Linkie| first27= M.| last28= Malhi| first28= Y.| last29= Maxwell| first29= S.| last30= Mendez| first30= M.| last31= Mittermeier| first31= R.| last32= Murray| first32= N. J.| last33= Possingham| first33= H.| last34= Radachowsky| first34= J.| last35= Saatchi| first35= S.| last36= Samper| first36= C.| last37= Silverman| first37= J.| last38= Shapiro| first38= A.| last39= Strassburg| first39= B.| last40= Stevens| first40= T.| last41= Stokes| first41= E.| last42= Taylor| first42= R.| last43= Tear| first43= T.| last44= Tizard| first44= R.| last45= Venter| first45= O.| last46= Visconti| first46= P.| last47= Wang| first47= S.| last48= Watson| first48=J. E. M.|display-authors= 3| title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material |journal= [[Nature Communications]] |volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3| pmid= 33293507| pmc= 7723057 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}}</ref>