Good news for a critically endangered Seychelles Species

Aride Island Special Nature Reserve is renowned as an important seabird colony site in the Indian Ocean, boasting the largest population of several seabird species globally. Yet, this year, it was a tree species unique to the island that captured the spotlight: the Rothmannia annae, commonly known as the Wright’s Gardenia or ‘Bwa sitron’ in Creole.
Wright’s Gardenia is endemic to Aride, meaning this small granitic inner Island of Seychelles of approximately 72 hectares, is the only place where this plant species occurs naturally in the world. This extremely limited geographical distribution means that the tree is classified as Critically Endangered and is featured on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In the past, this sturdy wood was harvested for firewood and hence in the late 1990s and early 2000 it became rare and then disappeared on all the islands of Seychelles, except for Aride.

The protection of this species has always been important for the Island Conservation Society (ICS) - which manages Aride Island, not only for aesthetics but also for biodiversity conservation. The Wright’s Gardenia has arguably, one of the most spectacular and scented flowers amongst the endemic trees of Seychelles. The white flowers tinged with tiny dots of purple and magenta has been immortalized on the 25 rupee note of Seychelles and stamps of Seychelles. The fruit itself is not a lemon or “sitron’ as its Creole name suggests, as - although folkloric says it is edible – it does not have many purpose in the local cuisine. Albeit its lack of purposeful use in modern times, ICS have collaborated with many organisations and individuals to reintroduce this endemic plant species on other islands. Hence, the Wright’s Gardenia can be spotted on islands such as Fregate, Silhouette and even on Praslin and Mahé.

On Aride, the Wright’s Gardenia grows best in rocky, nutrient-poor soil, mostly around the highest parts of the island.  Every five to seven years a detailed census is undertaken to locate and tag each tree growing on the island. This year, it took a team of eight staff and volunteers, 272 hours to find all the trees through dense foliage and challenging terrain. Once a Wright’s Gardenia tree is found, it is given a metal tag with its number on it, or if it is an old one, its tag number is recorded. A GPS point is recorded so the spread of the species across the island over time can be charted. Its height is also recorded, and any surrounding saplings, fruits and seedlings are counted. 

The result was astounding: a total of 2,913 trees, nearly 1,000 more trees than found in the last census in 2017. Some trees had over 1,000 seedlings, which indicates that this species is thriving on the island.  

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