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Aldabra Atoll, a UnescoWorld Heritage marine site in theSeychelles, is the world’slargest raised atoll. Its uniqueecosystem evolved innear isolation for 125,000 years

The atoll is located in theIndian Ocean.

A ldabra Atoll is a windswept, unwel-coming crumb of land, floating in openocean far from anywhere and

covered with razor-sharp limestone and pet-rified coral. It has no airstrip or fresh water,but it is among the greatest intact wildlifesanctuaries in the world.

Located in the archipelago of theSeychelles in the Indian Ocean, northeast ofMadagascar, Aldabra is the world’s largestraised atoll. Its ecosystem is unique, havingevolved in near isolation for 125,000 years.Aldabra is one of the last natural environ-ments still dominated by reptiles (the gianttortoise), and it has the planet’s largest pop-ulation of them (more than 100,000).Aldabra and the Galapágos Islands are theonly remaining islands playing host to impor-tant giant tortoise populations; once wide-spread, they have become systematicallyextinct upon the arrival of humans into theirecosystems.

Visitors to Aldabra are rare. Those whoarrive by infrequent boats cannot stay —there are no hotels, only a lone research out-post staffed by 12 rangers. Any trip is limitedto a few hours, and this depends on thetides. Even those who do make the trek tothe far-flung outpost in the Indian Oceanshouldn’t expect picture-postcard, white-sand beaches. The entire atoll is battered by

breakers that churn in and out of its vast la-goon twice daily. Some visitors never evensee the island. The seas may be too roughto view anything but dunes and surf.

Aldabra’s natural fortifications have pro-tected it from people; the little there is to ex-ploit has also helped preserve it. During the1960s, the U.K. government wanted to builda military base, but growing awareness inthe scientific communityconvinced the governmentto look elsewhere; it eventu-ally decided to establish abase in Diego Garcia.

The atoll is kept closedbecause environmental organizations —Unesco’s World Heritage Centre, which in-scribed it in 1982; the Seychelles IslandsFoundation (SIF), which has managed itsince 1979; and the more recent AldabraFoundation — want to maintain Aldabra asan example of a pristine atoll wilderness. Asa time capsule, or blueprint for evolution, itis of considerable scientific importance, ‘‘aperpetually observable storehouse of dataon biodiversity in a manner no longer possi-ble in much of the world,’’ according to theAldabra Foundation's mission statement.

Aldabra is special for Dr. Frauke Fleis-cher-Dogley, SIF’s chief executive officer, be-cause it ‘‘feels like a different planet,’’ one of

the few places where nature is not com-promised or affected by humans. Shenotes: ‘‘The ecosystem is still intact, andone can experience the feeling of a wholesystem, not only a handful of species in anotherwise degraded or heavily managedarea. One can almost feel the interactionsthere as they happen.’’

The atoll has three different marine envir-onments: its vast lagoon,the channels connectingthe lagoon with the IndianOcean, and the outer reefsalong the atoll. These coralreefs are home to sea

creatures of all varieties: dolphins, sharks,sponges, rays and crabs. The last survivingflightless bird indigenous to the IndianOcean, the Aldabra rail, is found only here.

These elements make Aldabra a poten-tially valuable example to other protectedmarine areas in determining precisely howmuch human presence and what types ofprotective strategies are required to sustainits unique biodiversity.

Maintaining the atoll is costly, however.Aldabra lies 1,200 kilometers (745 miles)away from the main island group of theSeychelles (population 80,000). A secondWorld Heritage site, the Vallée de Mai, is lo-cated in the main island group, which is an

The heart of a ‘‘Haute Horlogerie’’watch is its caliber — its mechanicalmovement. Since 1833, Jaeger-LeCoultre has created more than1,000 different calibers, including thesmallest movement, the thinnest andsome of the most complicated. Threehundred can be seen in its HeritageGallery, a museum where its famouswatches are on display.

Preserving the heritage of a craftis as important as conserving anatural wonder, and at Jaeger-LeCoultre headquarters, in the Valléede Joux near Geneva, this heritagegoes back to 1559. ‘‘That’s the year

the first LeCoultre — Pierre —settled,’’ explains Sebastian Vivas,Jaeger-LeCoultre’s in-house historianand curator of the Heritage Gallery.‘‘He brought a spirit that hasremained. There was somethingspecial about the people who cameto this isolated valley, cleared theland and developed the villages. Theywere pioneers. They masteredmetallurgy, then watchmaking,transforming the Vallée de Joux intothe prosperous place where theworld’s finest watches are made.’’

Vivas says this heritage givesJaeger-LeCoultre its special identity.

The Swiss manufacture’s inventorsand the competencies they passedon to succeeding generations are, hesays, directly connected to theculture of the Vallée de Joux. ‘‘Thefirst pioneers had to develop a do-it-yourself philosophy and find their ownsolutions,’’ Vivas says. ‘‘Today, thisremains because each model of awatch has its own movement, andeach is developed at the same timeas the watch. The inside and theoutside are made for each other. Thisharmony is one of the secrets of whatmakes a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch sospecial and so exclusive.’’

The 33rd Session of Unesco’sWorld Heritage CommitteeMeeting takes place in Seville,Spain, on June 22-30. Thisintergovernmental annual event,which convenes nearly 1,000people, is built around two mainthemes: nomination of new WorldHeritage sites, and review of thestate of conservation of sitesalready listed, including reportson 150 World Heritage sites.Review of the year’s activities,budget issues and future projectsare also on the agenda. Chairedby María Jesús San Segundo,Spain’s permanent delegate toUnesco, the committee consistsof representatives from 21signatories of the World HeritageConvention. For more information,visit http://whc.unesco.org

In the Vallée de Joux, a watchmaker preserves the heritage of craftsmanship

SPOTLIGHT | An isolated sanctuary

Aldabra Atoll: ‘Wonder of nature, given to humanity by the people of Seychelles’

EXPLORING | Another way of sharing heritage

Virtual tourism: A World Heritage site goes to the people

Annual meeting in Seville

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Aldabra Atoll is hometo more than 100,000

giant tortoises

M ost Unesco World Heritage sitesencourage tourism, but AldabraAtoll is an exception. Inhospitable

and remote, it is basically a no-go zone. Theatoll is 35 kilometers (25 miles) long and 15kilometers wide, but a mere one-20th of it isaccessible, and only two locations are opento visitors; what goes on there is researchand preservation work. The atoll is one ofnature’s crown jewels, however, and CarlosVejarano, founder of the Aldabra Foundation(www.aldabrafoundation.org), says, ‘‘Every-one can’t go, but I can bring it to you.’’

Vejarano has long been involved in envi-ronmental activities, such as high-mountainreforestation programs in Nepal. He recallshow he originally sought to make Aldabrabetter known. ‘‘I thought I could create sup-port by going out and asking people to con-tribute,’’ he says. ‘‘But that wasn’t working.Instead, I saw one needs to photograph theplace and do exhibits of it.’’ Exhibits, he says,are the perfect vehicle for creating aware-ness of this unusual spot. ‘‘Suddenly you’resharing this World Heritage site, but in an-other way. In this form, it can go to a lot ofpeople, especially children.’’

Realizing that neither the scientific impor-tance nor the wonders of Aldabra can be ad-equately described, Vejarano thought thepublic could get a good idea through a col-lection of the images, objects, sounds andsmells of the place. He put together an itin-erant exhibit, which went to The Hague in2006 and to Paris’s Natural History Mu-

seum last year (attracting 360,000 visitorsin five months). Its next stop could beMonaco’s Oceanography Museum, whichwould be fitting, since Jacques-Yves Cous-teau, the museum’s director for more than30 years, was one of the first to reveal tothe world the wonders of Aldabra, in the1950s. The exhibit celebrates Aldabra andfeatures an interactive model of the atollthat explains its uniqueness — everythingfrom the complicated riptides in its lagoon to

the vegetation that surrounds it. Soundsand smells are part of the show, as are mul-timedia programs, photos, tactile screensand games for children. There are replicasof its giant tortoises and a model reef. Chil-dren can send e-cards. The exhibit also tellsthe story of World Heritage and explains howAldabra was photographed for the exhibition— an undertaking not without hardship.Since the land is practically impenetrable,most of the filming had to be done in or onthe water.

Not many World Heritage sites can saythey tour with major, six-month shows at theworld’s top museums, but it is only throughphotos that most people can get to Aldabra.Vejarano is raising awareness — virtually —turning it into a World Heritage site that cancome to people.

‘‘Each person tries to find a way to help,’’says Vejarano. ‘‘I decided to photograph andmake exhibits, bringing Aldabra to people sowe all can share it.’’ Bringing humanity itsheritage, so people can all better appreciateit, has a message in itself, he points out.‘‘The exhibit has got people talking aboutAldabra,’’ he says, ‘‘and it is another way tomake them aware of the environment,aware that nature is us and is our heritage.’’He is particularly eager to target youngpeople. ‘‘Children see the exhibit, and begindeveloping an attitude that we have to caremore about our environment, that it has tobecome more sustainable. I think we needto go more in that direction.’’[

important tourist destination. Tourist reven-ues and entry fees are used by the SIF,which also manages the Vallée de Mai, tocover the cost of maintaining Aldabra. Thetwo sites’ survival are intimately linked. ‘‘Thisarrangement is practical,’’ says Marc Patry,a Unesco program specialist. ‘‘It ensuresthat Aldabra’s management costs arecovered. But it’s risky. Should somethinghappen to the tourism industry, or shouldthe Vallée de Mai no longer be an importantdestination, the whole model could fallapart.’’ The SIF, aware of this, is seekingways to diversify financing and reducecosts: renewable energy for Aldabra is onepossibility, notes Fleischer-Dogley.

Carlos Vejarano, a Spanish board mem-ber of the SIF, was behind the 2005 found-ing of the Aldabra Foundation (www.aldabrafoundation.org), a Geneva-based group thatsponsors research on the island, as well aseducational activities, such as an itinerantexhibit. To this end, it is helped by the

Seychelles’s people and government,whose environmental record, Vejaranosays, is admirable. ‘‘They have environment-ally aware people and programs, and thegovernment is behind them,’’ says Vejarano.‘‘Their leaders realize they belong to an inter-national community and are guardians ofsomething they gave to mankind 30 yearsago. They are Aldabra’s trustees. They’reproud of that and take their responsibilityseriously.’’ This awareness, he says, has be-come part of the Seychelles’s culture.

At one end of the atoll, a bronze plaque,standing on fossilized coral, reads: ‘‘Aldabra,wonder of nature, given to humanity by thepeople of Seychelles.’’ Vejarano says: ‘‘Of-ten when people get the World Heritage la-bel, they think, ‘They’re going to give ussomething.’ It creates expectations. What’scommendable about the Seychelles govern-ment and people is they see it another way.They have a real sense of taking care of theplace.’’[

Aldabra in images: Traveling exhibits are one wayof sharing the atoll with the world.

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Visit the Tides of Time Web site for videos, interviewsand more information on World Heritage marine sites:whc.unesco.org/tidesoftime/

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Jaeger-LeCoultre and UNESCO in partnership for conservationof World Heritage sites. A real commitment to a precious cause.www.jaeger-lecoultre.com

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World HeritageCentre

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