Silhouette

Silhouette is the only IDC island of the granitic group. It lies 20 kilometres north of Mahé and at 1,995 hectares it is the third largest island of the granitic group and the fifth largest in Seychelles as a whole. Mount Dauban rises to 740 metres and is the second highest summit in Seychelles. Though superficially similar to the other granitic islands, much of Silhouette (and North Island) is made up of younger rock called syenite and dated from 63 million years ago, compared to 750 million years for the other granitic islands. Silhouette may have been born in rapid and dramatic style, in a manner similar to the famous eruption of Mount St Helens that took place in western United States in 1980. It is probable that the crater lies southeast of La Passe, now almost entirely eroded away and submerged. This volcano erupted many times and Silhouette may have towered 3,000 metres or more at one time. Silhouette Island was named afer Etienne de Silhouette, Controller General of Finances in France in the reign of Louis XV.​

History

​The crew of an English East India Company vessel, the Ascension who were the first to step ashore on Silhouette in 1609. Graves discovered at Anse Lascars were thought to be of Arabic origin (hence the name, which is the local term for an Arab), but when bones from the graves were taken for investigation, they were dated to around 1800. The island was visited by Charles Oger who took possession of it in the name of the King of France on the 28th January 1771. In the early days of settlement, several proprietors were granted ‘concessions’ including the corsair Jean- François Hodoul. The island was later leased and then sold, as one entity to the Dauban family, whose impressive mausoleum still stands. The Daubans bought the island in 1860 and owned it for a hundred years. They were plantation owners of French extraction and made real efforts towards profitable farming, clearing forest on the flat land in order to plant coconut palms and fruit trees, and building the necessary supporting infrastructure. As the number of labourers living and working on the island grew to around 1,000 a jetty was built at La Passe, (which is still the main landing point), houses for the staff were constructed and wide tracks were laid to facilitate the transport of produce by mule to La Passe. The Dauban era came to an end when Henri Dauban sold the island to a French group. The island was purchased by the Seychelles Government in 1983.

Conservation

​Island Conservation Society runs a Conservation Centre on Silhouette. Conservation programmes are approved by Silhouette Foundation, which brings together ICS, IDC, Hilton Labriz, Seychelles National Parks Authority and the Ministry of Environment. The island supports an exceptional biodiversity, including endemic birds, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, bats and plants. The whole of Silhouette has been classified as an Important Bird Area due to endemics including Seychelles Kestrel, otherwise found only on Mahe, Praslin and some satellite islands.  Conservationists are currently considering the potential for the introduction of other granitic island endemics. Sheath-tailed Bat, the rarest bat in the world, has its last major stronghold on Silhouette. Most of the 75 or so endemic plants of the granitic islands are found on Silhouette, some of them unique to Silhouette. One of the rarest of these is the Critically Endangered Impatiens gordonii, a white-flowered relative of the well-known garden plant Busy Lizzie, only ever recorded on Mahe and Silhouette. For many years it was thought to be extinct but two plants were rediscovered on Mahe. Then in 1995 a population of some 200 plants was found on Silhouette. It hosts a significant hawksbill nesting population. In 1987 the waters around Silhouette were declared a Marine National Park. Silhouette National Park was opened on the 7th August 2010. This protects 93% of the landmass.

Economic Activities

​IDC maintains the utilities and facilities of Silhouette. It also operates a Guest House. Hilton Labriz Resort & Spa runs a five-star facility at La Passe. There is also a small Guest House, La Belle Tortue Lodge.