The Project
Creation of a poem for Nature Seychelles as an ode to the endangered Hawksbill Turtle and the local Aldabra Giant Tortoise, George.
Nature Seychelles is a leading environmental organisation in the Western Indian Ocean. It is the largest and oldest environment NGO in the Seychelles archipelago, where it is involved in environmental conservation and management.
It is an association registered in the Seychelles with a board of Trustees, and a local and international membership since 1998. It is also the BirdLife Partner in Seychelles, a member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA).
Nature Seychelles manages the world-famous Cousin Island Special Reserve, one of the oldest marine protected areas in Seychelles.
‘The Tribe Endangered’ No. 1. George
Where’s George today?
Elder statesman of the tribe
Perhaps its long-lived Chief
George we’ve already introduced
In another verse, but here he is again
Unknowingly enjoying his fame
He lives his life on a beach
An Atoll called Cousins
At a giant tortoise pace
Aldabra Giant Tortoise
Aldabrachelys Gigantea
Lumbering around
In his mobile helmet home
OK, because that’s what he is
And that’s what giant tortoises do
The same driving rules as us all
Hunger and passing on genes
Links in an unbroken chain
But his cousins had theirs broken
Eaten out of house and home
By historically hungry sailors
Only Aldabras remain, like George
But what’s in a name?
A being worthy of living a life
Left to his own devices
Doing what giant tortoises do
Looking at the sea and sky
Searching for today’s meal
Or a rather attractive slow-walking rock
Hiding away when it gets too hot
More than a hunk of a ‘living rock’
Who likes to break things*
Plodding around for longer than us
Living more than a hundred years
Some even two or longer
That’s George’s life
On his island paradise
His home long before they were known
As the Seychelles
(Now open again)
George and his kind
Are not strictly endangered
Just limited in numbers and range
George is safe when tourists are around
Contributing to upkeeping his home
On YouTube amusing some of them
Going into battle with a rival table
Or a pretender barbecue
Upstart, to be upturned
Or was that just an amorous advance?
Either way, short-sighted at a glance
Visiting his island keeps him in home
He carries his own house
Then visitation dried up interminably
That story can’t be told in one line
Just now begins the trickle back
Only two threats now are known
Drip feeding of existential funding
Or any change to his home
Just this little change of climate thing
That threaten his shores, not alone
George may well outlive us
But right now he needs help directly
Your money is your proxy
Keeping the conservation going
Until you can greet him personally
It’s up to the rest of us in our homes
To ensure his home remains
An Atoll
Above the sea
For George to keep doing his thing
Master and Commander of his islandship
Defender of the realm of living rocks
Legend in his Aldabran mind
So remember to mind your table!
By Anthony E. Lovell
