These newcomers faced an arduous process of adaptation , marked by an astonishing level of reciprocity between plants and animals . This symbiosis has given rise to a particularly rich and unique array of flora and fauna : of the 700 plants indigenous to the Mascarene Islands , 300 species exist only in Mauritius . “ At the time , our forests had the highest density of trees in the world . This mutualism between species and the lack of predators also led to the appearance of giant species , now extinct , such as the dodo , the skink , the blue parrot , and the tortoise – the last three counting among the largest in the world ”, explains Dr Vikash Tatayah , Director of Conservation at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation . |
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Then came civilisation … |
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“ An immense lottery ”
Pierre Baissac , Director of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences in Mauritius , uses these words to describe the natural development of the island . Marooned in the middle of the ocean , everything seems to be set against the advent of life on this mere comma of land . The nearest landmass , Madagascar , is more than 1,000 kilometers away , surrounded by an ocean of dizzying depth . Nonetheless , carried by the sea ’ s currents , perhaps on a raft of vegetation , or swept along by a gust of wind , driven by the breath of a cyclone , life managed to make it to the island ’ s shores – almost by chance !
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After all , what are the odds of a tree that has fallen into the sea reaching the island , let alone its passengers – seedlings and cold-blooded animals ( the only animals able to survive such a journey )? What are the chances that these insects and bats , arriving from Madagascar , will find the food they need and a partner to perpetuate their species ? That the ocean level would drop unexpectedly , allowing the giant tortoises of Madagascar and the Comoros Islands to set off in search of new lands ? That seeds , frozen in the mud encrusting the legs of a migratory bird , or carried in the digestive tract of a bat , would find the soil that will allow them to germinate ? |
Discovered first by the Arabs , this paradise lost – where generations of unique species had flourished for thousands of years – was later visited by the Portuguese . They left behind them cats and rats , thereby surreptitiously triggering the weakening of the Mauritian forests . In 1598 , Dutch axes and pickaxes began to scar the island with extensive clearing of forestry . “ This was the beginning of an excessive felling of ebony trees for their highly prized wood , as well as of other woods used for carpentry ”, Pierre Baissac tells us .
Little by little , the island ’ s natural reserves dwindled . Animals , such as the dugongs , were hunted for their meat , or the dodos , eaten in the egg by rats from Europe or starved by deforestation . “ Pierre Poivre was already talking about the damage being done to nature , particularly to plants , and , as an avant-garde ecologist , he was sounding the alarm ,” says Emmanuel Richon , director of the Blue Penny Museum . But nothing was done . “ At the time , the colonists saw nature as something that could be exploited with impunity . Today , we have lost around thirty species of animal and around 10 % of our flora ”, continues Dr Tatayah .
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