Silhouette Island: Visitor and Heritage Guide

Silhouette Island sits on Seychelles' Tentative List, submitted on 1 February 2013 under criteria five and ten, and has not been inscribed. It is the more interesting of the two Tentative entries for what it argues rather than for what it contains.

The island

Seychelles' submission records that Silhouette was the first island of the group to be seen when the islands were discovered in 1609, but was not settled until the early nineteenth century.

It is the third largest island in the archipelago and, the submission says, among the most physically attractive of the granitic group. It measures about five kilometers long and wide. Mont Dauban, at 740 meters, is the second highest mountain in Seychelles.

The steep slopes have prevented significant development and restricted the population to 147 people, which the submission gives as the figure at the time of writing.

And the natural one

Under criterion ten the submission says the island contains the most significant natural habitat for numerous species, that the majority of its plants and animals are small and inconspicuous, and that the most obvious animals are the large fruit bats. It adds that the height of the mountains and the limited development mean the island holds an exceptional range of unique animals and plants, and that conservationists regard it as among the most important biodiversity sites in the country.