Flora and Fauna
The uniqueness of the Seychelles' ecology is reflected in the US$1.8 million project of the Global Environment Trust Fund of the World Bank (see Glossary) entitled Biodiversity Conservation and Marine Pollution Abatement, that began in 1993. The World Bank study for this project states that the islands contain, out of a total of 1,170 flowering plants, "at least 75 species of flowering plants, 15 of birds, 3 of mammals, 30 of reptiles and amphibians, and several hundred species of snails, insects, spiders and other invertebrates" found nowhere else. The diversity of species in the islands is being assessed by the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles. In addition, the waters contain more than 1000 kinds of fish, of which more than one-third are associated with coral reefs. Specific examples of unique birds are the Black Paradise Flycatcher, the Black Parrot, the brush warbler, and a flightless rail. Most famous of all the Seychelles animals are the giant tortoises of the genus Dipsochelys.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Seychelles
Famous quotes containing the words flora and/or fauna:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)