A large number of reefs within the inner granitic islands of the archipelago of Seychelles could be entirely lost, unless concerted action is taken soon to control crown of thorns, warns Dr. Udo Englhardt, the expert on on the management of crown of thorns in a...
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Moyenne Island was purchased in 1962 by a British national and newspaper editor Brendon Grimshaw for around £10,000. Grimshaw lived alone on the island until 2012 when he died aged 87. After Grimshaw purchased the island, he and a local youth René Antoine Lafortune planted sixteen thousand trees, built 4.8 kilometers of nature paths, and brought and bred Aldabra giant tortoises, intending to create an island of extraordinary beauty. Apart from a wide variety of plant and bird life, the island is home to around 120 giant tortoises. In 2012, according to Grimshaw, the eldest was 76 and was named Desmond, after his godson.
He permanently moved to the island in 1972. He then set up a water supply, electricity, and a phone line on the island. Many thought he might turn the island into a resort but he wanted to build a nature reserve.
Grimshaw invited his father to live with him after his mother’s death and he did. According to Grimshaw, “They became best of friends.” His father passed away 5 years later. However, Lafortune also used to live on the island and they allowed people to visit the island during the day for a small fee. In 2007 when Lafortune also passed away.
Grimshaw, who was 81, knew that he had little time left to decide the fate of the island. He set up a trust and signed an agreement with Seychelles’ Ministry of Environment. It became Moyenne Island National Park, known as the world’s smallest national park.
During his time there he turned down an offer of £24 million to buy the island and instead developed Moyenne into a nature sanctuary. He also ensured its status as a nature reserve in its own right and further development has been prohibited.
In 1996, Grimshaw wrote a book about himself and the island, entitled A Grain of Sand. In 2009, a documentary film was produced about Grimshaw and the island, also called, A Grain of Sand. Lafortune died in 2007 and Grimshaw died in Victoria, Mahé, in July 2012 when he was 86. He was buried next to his father on the island. His tombstone reads, “Moyenne taught him to open his eyes to the beauty around him and say thank you to God.”
Moyenne Island is owned by Terrestrial National Park and managed by the Moyenne Foundation Society. The island is now known as the Moyenne Island National Park. In 2013, after the island received its own national park status, a new hut was built and a warden was posted on the island, collecting the entrance fee from tourists.
Moyenne is one of the smallest of Seychelles’ inner islands: it measures just 0.4km long and barely 0.3km wide, and its coastline runs for less than 2km. Its highest point rises to an altitude of just 61m above the water’s edge. It is in the Sainte Anne Marine National Park off the north coast of Mahé, Seychelles
Moyenne Island Beach is one of the least crowded beaches in the Seychelles. Even during peak tourist season, there are rarely more than 50 visitors on the island at any one time, and never more than 300 over the course of a day. You can have a private spot of your own on the beach.
The Jolly Roger, a restaurant, founded by Grimshaw and his longtime partner, Rene Antoine Lafortune, serves local dishes like grilled fish and seafood curries in a red Creole sauce.
There is also a small museum dedicated to Grimshaw’s life and two nurseries for giant tortoise hatchlings. Apart from these Moyenne remains undeveloped. The island has no jetty and arriving here you wade ashore, barefoot, through the shallows.
On the island, there are 16,000 trees – mahogany, palm, mango, pawpaw – planted by Grimshaw. By one estimate, Moyenne has more plant species per sq m than any other national park in the world.
Every now and then, you may find your path blocked by one of Moyenne’s nearly 50 free-range giant Aldabra tortoises. They’re in no hurry, and nor should you be as you watch them pass. Back in the shallows and by the beaches at Pirate’s Cove, watch for hawksbill turtles that often come ashore to nest.
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