Man and Nature on Rodrigues: Tragedy of an Island Common

Abstract

One of the most isolated islands on Earth, Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean stands as a modern-day ‘morality play’ of the consequences of environmental abuse. This tiny piece of land on the fringe of the tropics, emerged as an island through volcanic action some 1.5 million years ago, and acquired its biota mainly by long-distance dispersal from the west. Rodrigues was not inhabited by any people until 1691, and since then has always been administered from Mauritius which lies 650 km to the west.Burning, browsing, and woodcutting, have almost completely removed the indigenous forest. Close to a third of the native plant species have disappeared, and another third are on the brink of extinction. Giant land-tortoises, sea-turtles, and the Dugong, have vanished. Only two of the ten native species of land-birds survive. The endemic Solitaire was killed off even before the human population started to grow. Forest removal opened new habitats for introduced plants and animals, some of which are now highly invasive pests.Human impact on Rodrigues has gone beyond biotic effects. Cultivation of row-crops on the hilly terrain, and the keeping of domesticated animals in excessive numbers, led to the loss of most of the topsoil by the beginning of the twentieth century. Soil removal and compaction drastically modified the hydrology of the island, and silt deposition in the lagoon has contributed to fish decline. The inherent vulnerability of the native biota, the twin hazards of cyclones and droughts that befall the island, and demographic pressure, have all exacerbated the rate and degree of resource degradation.

Collapse and recovery in a remote small island—A tale of adaptive cycles or downward spirals?

“…Our SSI were exploratory and iterative to overcome a lack of prior research. Degradation is already reported in MIOM and Rodrigues but how elements of this may be interconnected are little discussed (Gade, 1985;Ramessur, 2002). We arrived with no a priori expectations beyond the social and economic development constraints common to islands in general, and in particular twin islands facing increasing resource scarcity and climate change (Briguglio, 1995;Baldacchino, 2002;Lal et al, 2002;Tompkins and Adger, 2002;Tompkins, 2005;Campling, 2006;Cherian, 2007;van Beukering et al, 2007).…”

“…The island has one of the Indian Ocean's largest reef lagoons (approximately 200 m 2 ). With exceptions (Gade, 1985), Rodrigues is barely researched beyond natural sciences. Semi-autonomy (2001) raises its relevance to how islands respond to disturbance (Bhikajee, 2001;Rees et al, 2005;Payet and Agricole, 2006).…”

“…Capital in social-ecological systems (adapted from Abel et al, 2006). Mozambique, Madagascar and wider Africa (Gade, 1985). Environmental degradation on land was recorded early on (Oliver and Lynch, 2004), with tortoise then turtle depletion and extinctions (Dodo-like bird Solitaire: mid-1700s).…”

“…Governance of Rodrigues was haphazard and swayed from afar by ideas and events in Europe, such as reports of discoveries of Eden in the Indian Ocean (Grove, 1990(Grove, , 1995, religious and Napoleonic wars in Europe causing emigration, and naval battles extending to the Indian Ocean amid globalising trade patterns (Cape route to East India). The population rose after British slavery abolition laws (1807-1830), with freemen using little-regulated African swiddenfarming practices (Gade, 1985). The island, absent democratic rule, was subject to sometimes strictly autocratic officials (1830) on rapid rotation from the colonial seat in MIOM (North-Coombes, 1971;Gade, 1985), but Rodriguan elite families at times forcefully opposed them (North-Coombes, 1971).…”

Human impact on the Falkland Islands environment

“…Many studies over the last couple of decades have adopted this approach in examining the human role in the ecology of island environments (e.g. Fosberg, 1957;Stoddart, 1968;Bayliss-Smith, 1977;Gade, 1985;Armstrong, 1992a).…”