Alphonse
Alphonse lies 400 kilometres southwest of Victoria. The atoll consists of 174 hectares of land and a lagoon of 540 hectares with peripheral reef flats of about 400 hectares. There is one narrow channel in the southwest, with depths of 4–10 metres allowing safe passage to small boats. The maximum depth in the lagoon is about 10 metres. In close proximity to Alphonse is St. François Atoll, which covers 5,400 hectares of which about one-third is lagoon and two-thirds reef flats. St François Atoll has two islands, Bijoutier in the north (0.5 hectare), and St François in the south (17 hectares). Alphonse was named by the crew of Le Lys on 27th June 1730, to honour the birthday of the ship’s captain, Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez. The origin of the name St François goes back to 1562 when the group as a whole was first shown on Portuguese charts as San Francisco.
History
In the 19th century, Alphonse was owned by a succession of business interests, commencing the first recorded being the Huteau family in 1823. There is a double tomb in the Alphonse graveyard which, according to tradition, is that of a Monsieur and Madame Huteau. In 1862 Alphonse was sold to the Daubans, who also owned Silhouette. The British authorities contested the legality of the sale, but Monsieur Dauban was granted legal title in 1866. However, disputes over ownership of the outer islands meant that Alphonse did not legally become part of Seychelles until 1881. Coconuts were grown for copra, while turtle meat, turtle shell and pearl shell were exploited. Alphonse was a particularly fertile island, due to deposits of guano left by huge colonies of seabirds in the past. Maize, pumpkin, banana, sweet potato, pineapple and chickens were also produced. There have been many shipwrecks on both atolls, the wreckage of some still visible today.
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Conservation
Island Conservation Society has run a conservation centre on Alphonse since 2007. Programmes are approved by Alphonse Foundation, which brings together ICS, IDC, hotel investors and the Ministry of Environment. Guests contribute a conservation levy helping to fund programmes. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and other seabirds breed. The isolation of the group acts as a magnet to migratory birds and more bird species have been recorded here than anywhere south of the granitics apart from Aldabra. There is a small breeding population of Black-naped Tern at St François, which also hosts globally significant numbers of Crab Plover and Saunders’s Tern plus Seychelles’ largest concentrations of Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone and Grey Plover. Coconuts still dominate the woodland but there are areas of more natural forest. Significant numbers of hawksbills and green turtles nest and the waters of the atolls provide important foraging habitat for immature turtles.
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Economic Activities
Alphonse Island has one hotel, Alphonse Island Resort, which opened for business in 1999. The resort was constructed by IDC and IDC provides on-going support facilities. These include utilities and maintenance together with air and sea links to and from Mahe. The resort features accommodation comprising of A-frame chalets and bungalows built near to the water’s edge. The main interest and focus for guests of the resort is fly-fishing on nearby St Francois but other visitors are also welcomed. IDC also provides staff accommodation, a Conservation Centre and logistical support to Island Conservation Society.
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