{"id":29123,"date":"2023-06-12T11:54:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T09:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=75779"},"modified":"2023-06-12T18:35:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T16:35:53","slug":"mauritius-the-tropical-island-paradise-where-sustainable-5-tourism-is-saving-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/mauritius-the-tropical-island-paradise-where-sustainable-5-tourism-is-saving-wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Mauritius: the tropical island paradise where sustainable 5* tourism is saving wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

An island in the Indian Ocean is looking to the luxury tourist industry to help turn back the clock on its devastated biodiversity, through sustainable tourism that supports the rewilding of the island <\/p>

By Paul McGuinness\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 12 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Few countries have seen their wildlife destroyed to the extent that has blighted Mauritius in the centuries since European settlers arrived. But today, this tropical island paradise is looking to the luxury tourist industry to help turn back the clock on its devastated biodiversity, through sustainable tourism that actively supports rewilding of the island, as BBC Wildlife<\/em> editor Paul McGuinness discovered.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something of a perverse pride in the dodo<\/a> on Mauritius<\/a>. As you arrive, the stamp on your passport bears its distinct outline. The island\u2019s gift shops are stacked with cuddly dodo toys to take home as souvenirs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\""Dodo\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The dodo was endemic to Mauritius. \u00a9 ZU_09\/Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Thanks to the dodo, there\u2019s probably no other country on earth so strongly associated with extinction as Mauritius. This tropical island paradise, formed around 10 million years ago by 23 volcanoes along a fault line between India and Madagascar<\/a>, was uninhabited by humans until the 16th century. And then, in 1598, the Dutch claimed it. <\/span><\/p>\n

This sealed the dodo\u2019s fate. A large, flightless bird endemic to the island, the dodo was superbly adapted to an environment where food was plentiful and predators absent. But sailors and the invasive species they introduced hunted it, raided its nests and destroyed its habitat. By 1662, it was no more.<\/p>\n

Mauritius has been colonised by countless invasive species, from giant bamboo to giant African snails <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>

It wasn\u2019t just the dodo that suffered as a result of human colonisation though. Following the settlement by the Dutch, then the French and, in 1810, the British, much of the island\u2019s diversity was gone. Vast forests of ebony trees were destroyed, replaced by sugar cane, which would eventually all but cover the island, destroying untold numbers of plant and animal species.<\/p>\n

\""Dutch\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A drawing showing Admiral Jacob Cornelissoon van Neck\u2019s expedition that landed on Mauritius in 1598. \u00a9 SSPL\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

And the intervening centuries have seen Mauritius colonised not just by humans, but by countless invasive species, from the giant bamboo that spreads through the forests to the giant African snails whose shells litter the gutter of every road on the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we did have was a high rate of endemic species,\u201d Vikash Tatayah, conservation director at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, tells me. \u201cUnfortunately, like a lot of small islands around the world, the native vegetation has been sacrificed. There\u2019s been poaching and hunting and invasive species \u2013 the rats, the cats, the mongooses, the monkeys, as well as invasive plants that are taking their toll. So Mauritius remains a place with a very highly threatened biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the dodo, Mauritius has lost giant tortoises<\/a>, giant skinks, blue parrots, red rails and countless other species. With yet more species down to critical numbers, urgent work is underway to reverse the island\u2019s fortunes.<\/p>\n

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