African Banks, Etoile & Boudeuse
African Banks (235 kilometres from Victoria), Étoile (305 kilometres) and Boudeuse (330 kilometres) are uninhabited islands of the Amirantes. In 2022, the government leased these three islands to IDC for conservation purposes. African Banks is the most northerly island of the Amirantes. The island of 30 hectares is surrounded by honeycombed sandstone cliffs up to two metres in height except on the western coast where a huge expanse of sand juts into a shallow lagoon. At one time African Banks consisted of two islands and the Constitution of Seychelles still records this fact, but South Island had largely submerged by about 1976 and its location is now marked only by a wrecked barge and a sandbank covered at high tide. Étoile and Boudeuse are unusual in that they are the only islands on the western edge of the Amirantes Ridge.
The origin of the name African Banks is unknown. It was discovered and named Ilots Africains in 1797 by Admiral Willaumez, commander of the frigate La Régénérée. Chevalier du Roslan named Étoile and Boudeuse in 1771 after the two ships of Antoine de Bougainville, which completed the first French circumnavigation of the globe, 1766-1769.
The origin of the name African Banks is unknown. It was discovered and named Ilots Africains in 1797 by Admiral Willaumez, commander of the frigate La Régénérée. Chevalier du Roslan named Étoile and Boudeuse in 1771 after the two ships of Antoine de Bougainville, which completed the first French circumnavigation of the globe, 1766-1769.
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The small size of these islands has discouraged permanent human settlement, although there were buildings on African Banks at one time and a lighthouse was constructed. The name Boudeuse means sulker and is appropriate as ships have come to grief on this tiny, brooding scrap of land. The remains of a wreck of a Portuguese vessel were located here by local fisherman in the 1970s. It is believed that the vessel was the Santo Antonio that sank in 1589. At least 30 cannon are known to have been removed along with other artefacts, most reportedly in private collections, although a few are held by the museum in Victoria.
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Étoile and Boudeuse are protected under the Wild Birds Protection (Nature Reserve) Regulations 1966, while African Banks has been protected by a special order designed to prevent unauthorised entry. BirdLife International recognises all three as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) due to their seabird populations. Despite legal protection, the absence of conservation enforcement means that poaching is a serious problem. The Sooty Tern colony of African Banks was estimated at over 40,000 pairs in 1955, about 20,000 in 1974 and only 10,000 pairs by 1995. African Banks is also one of the few Seychelles breeding sites for Greater Crested Tern, Black-naped Tern and Roseate Tern as well as the more common Brown Noddy and Wedge-tailed Shearwater. Étoile hosts one of only four known breeding sites for Roseate Tern in Seychelles, one of the rarest seabirds of the Indian Ocean. Greater Crested Terns and Brown Noddy also breed. Boudeuse hosts one of the few surviving colonies of Masked Booby. Brown Booby were exterminated from Boudeuse at one time but in 2013, ICS discovered a small number of pairs breeding. Hawksbill and Green Turtles both breed at all three islands but the future of birds and turtles is uncertain as long as poaching remains uncontrolled. Étoile and Boudeuse are treeless while African Banks has just a few Coconut Palms. Low plants dominate all three. Boudeuse remains one of the most pristine tropical coral cays in the world, with no introduced vegetation.
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There will be frequent visits to the three islands by IDC and ICS staff from Poivre and Desroches, with regular drone surveillance.
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